


2258: An Uhura Odyssey

by LylaRivers, SherlockedTrekkie



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Eventual Spirk, F/M, M/M, disclaimer: MORE CRACK THAN ORIGINALLY INTENDED, past spuhura
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-03-17 12:09:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3528884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LylaRivers/pseuds/LylaRivers, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherlockedTrekkie/pseuds/SherlockedTrekkie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following Nero's attack on Vulcan, Gaila is missing and Uhura has a new roommate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The OC Tkndoksc is an alien character of our own creation. Xir name is pronounced as "keysmash", and is spelled differently every time. Xe has purple/blue (purquoise) skin, is about 5 feet tall, and has 4 headtails.
> 
> This fic will feature Scotty/Uhura, Keenser/Sogvft, and eventual Spock/Kirk, with mentions of a past Spock/Uhura.

“Two Budweiser classics and... a Slusho,” Nyota tells the man behind the counter. She surveys the room as she waits for her drinks. She counts two Orions by the bar, half a dozen humans playing some kind of pool-esque game, and a couple unidentifiable aliens lurking in a the shadows. The place used to be packed with students every night but since Nero business had been slow. A moment later the bartender carefully places Nyota’s drinks on the tray sitting on the table in front of her.

“Enjoy those, lassie,” he says in a thick Scottish accent, winking before turning to the next customer, “And what can I get for ye?”

Nyota blushes as she walks back to her friends with the drinks.  She’s a bit surprised to see the very attractive - _no, stop, Spock, you’re in a relationship with Spock_ \- engineer who had mysteriously beamed aboard with Kirk from the middle of nowhere.  Shaking her head slightly to dispel the sudden onslaught of thoughts about… whatever the bartender/engineer’s name is, Uhura goes back to her seat with Afgdfmsri, and a few other cadets.

“So.  You like the bartender, huh?” Rjbnfgrso asks, grabbing the Slusho off Nyota’s tray.  “Don’t think I couldn’t see that blush from as far away as I was.”

“I have a boyfriend,” Nyota mutters.

“Are you sure about that, honey?  Maybe you should have a little conversation with him about that.  As I recall, he wasn’t too cuddly before Nero’s little attack, and now?”

“And now _what_?” Nyota asks testily.

“Well, it just doesn’t seem like he’s that into you,” Ffrgibv says, taking a long draught of xer drink.

Nyota slams back half of her beer in one go.  “I’m going to need more alcohol for this conversation, I think.”

"Then don't drink beer - get some of the real stuff!" Jrdhouff says.

"Or, we could not have this conversation at all," Nyota mutters.

"Just do us all a favor, sweetie, and go talk to your Vulcan, why don't you?" Ntsvoif asks. "Actually talk, not whatever weird Vulcan thing you do with him."

"But we don't..."

"Exactly," Fjusvjih says, looking particularly pleased with xirself.

“That’s not the point!” Nyota says exasperatedly.

“Then what is?”

“Ah, go screw yourself,” Nyota yells.  “I’m not talking about this with you. You’re worse than Gaila ever was.”  They both freeze at the mention of Nyota’s old roommate.  “I don’t even know if she’s alive or dead,” Nyota whispers.

“There were tons of survivors,” Pteigds says bracingly.  “She’ll turn up soon enough.  Come on Nyota, have another drink.”

Nyota drains her glass.  “Let’s talk about something else.”

***

Nyota catches up with Spock after the final student files out of his classroom, “Can we talk?”

“You are already doing precisely that, Lieutenant,” Spock answers.

Nyota rolls her eyes. “That’s not what I meant. Can I speak to you about something personal? Maybe in a less public setting?”

“I am currently walking to my office,” Spock says, nodding, “Is that private enough for this conversation?”

Nyota smiles at him. “It’s perfect.”  Not a minute later Spock keys open the door and steps over the threshold.

“What do you wish to discuss?” he asks the woman in front of him.

She lightly touches Spock’s fore and ring-fingers with her own.“I wanted to talk about… us.”  Damn Frivbhhs for putting her up to this… but she has to know.  To be honest, her new roommate’s assessment of Spock is fairly accurate, but Nyota put it up to the shock of losing his planet and mother all in the same instant.

Spock shakes his hand free and brings his arms to his usual parade rest stance.  “Us?”

“After… after Vulcan,” she stammers, suddenly unsure of how to understand this new development.  “I… In the turbolift.”

Spock nods, almost imperceptibly.  “I remember.”

“And?”

“And I believed it was a singular event,” Spock says curtly.

“Why?”

“I have observed that is a way humans express sympathy, resuming their original relationship after the fact,” Spock explains, “And I was not aware the act would affect you in this way.”

“You weren’t…” Nyota begins.

“I do not wish to enter into a romantic relationship with you at this time,” Spock says curtly.

Nyota brings a hand up to her eyes, quickly wiping away tears she doesn’t want the Vulcan to see. Damn him.

“Is it something I did?” she asks, working to keep the warble in her voice under control.

Spock shakes his head. “As they say, ‘it’s not you, it’s me.’”

Nyota’s brow furrows in annoyance.  “Oh that's such bullcrap, Spock, and you know it. When someone says that it means precisely the opposite. It’s the _polite_ way of breaking up with someone. Tell me your real reason. And tell me  now.”

Spock exhales softly. “I was not aware my words had that connotation. I merely meant I have no desire to enter into a relationship with a _woman_ at this time.”

“You could have told me that to begin with,” Nyota says after a moment of silence, her features softening into something between sadness and relief. She reaches out to place a hand on his upper arm. Spock flinches at her touch but doesn’t pull away. Nyota lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I saw other people,” she chuckles, mind immediately drifting to that cute Scotsman from the bar the night before.

Spock raises an eyebrow. “I would not, provided you afford me the same courtesy.”

“Of course,” Nyota says seriously then smiles broadly and plants a kiss on Spock’s cheek, “I’ll see you around, ok?” She turns away and flounces out the door, adamant Spock will never know just how much he hurt her.

Spock nods as she walks away.  “I am sure we will be seeing each other again very soon.”

***

That night, Qwernbnq pushes xir covers down and sits up in bed.  “Hey, Uhura?”

“Yeah, Hlasdflajs?” Nyota answers after a moment, switching on the lamp beside her bed.  “It’s 3:00 in the morning, what’s going on?”

“Have you ever been in a relationship? Like, a real relationship?” Jasdnf asks.

“Beyond that mess with Spock?  Not really,” Nyota says, with a barely imperceptible sniffle that definitely isn’t there.  No, she is not going to cry over Spock.  He didn’t even know she considered them to be in a relationship. But there’s no way she’s going into all that at 3 am.  “Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” Uhakjsdf says cryptically.

“Can I go back to sleep now?” Nyota whines. “I know it’s a Saturday night, but I still have schoolwork to finish tomorrow.”

“Actually, I have another question,” Lflasndf says.

Nyota sighs.  “Ok, one more question. Then sleep.”

“Fine,” Ghajdsfasd agrees.  “I was just wondering… How do you feel about Scotsmen?”

Nyota hopes her roommate can’t see her face flush darker than it did at the bar last Friday night.  “They’re… Their accents are pretty cute, I guess. From a linguistic perspective, of course.”

“Of course,” Tuewioreu says mockingly.  “That bartender was pretty cute, wasn’t he?”

Nyota thinks for a moment, calling up a memory of piercing blue-grey eyes and soft hands and sharp shoulders and… _Stop it. You don’t even know his real name_.

“Yeah I guess so,” she agrees.  “Seriously, though, do we have to talk about this right now? I’m about to pass out.”

Wweoriuot smirks.  “I’ll let you sleep if you promise me you’ll talk to that guy the next time we see him.”

“What makes you think we’re ever going back to that bar?” Nyota says, swallowing a yawn.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Yoiuwetbu says.  “Just the fact that we’ve gone there every week since you were old enough to drink.”

“Point taken,” Nyota says.  “Now can I please turn off the light? I need at least six hours of sleep if I’m actually going to function like a normal human tomorrow.”

Bkjfsdofj shakes her head.  “Promise me.”

“I promise,” Nyota grumbles, turning off her lamp. Three minutes later she is asleep, her breathing soft and even, dreaming of that man she promised she would talk to next weekend.

***


	2. Chapter 2

Ghdjsoiuoasd drags her roommate to the same bar the next Friday night, “So you can finally go talk to that cutie back there. Stop protesting and roll with it.” She unceremoniously pushes Nyota up to the bar before sauntering off to join a couple other cadets at a corner table, “Good luck, hun.”

Nyota shoots Halsdkf a death glare, then turns around with a flirty smile on her face, “Hey, can I get-”

“A Slusho and 2 Buds?” the bartender interrupts in his usual brogue.

Nyota frowns slightly, “How did you-”

“You’ve ordered the same drinks for weeks,” the man cuts in again, “You cannae expect a man to not notice that.”

“...Granted,” Nyota says, “I hadn’t seen you here until last week, though.”

The Scot’s eyes slide down to the table, “I only started this job about 10 days ago. I was a busboy for almost a full year, with my friend Keenser over there.” He gestures to the short alien over by Yiouopu and xir friends. “Oyster-face and I have been together since I got stuck on Delta Vega.”

_Wait… ‘Together’_... “So are you two…?” Nyota begins.

“Oh nonono!” The Scot laughs, “I’m sorry, that was a strange way to put it. We met at that bloody outpost a little over a year ago and we’ve been the best of friends since then.”

“That seems to happen in those circumstances,” Nyota muses.

The man nods, “To my knowledge, he’s not even interested in humans. He seems to like your friend there, though.”

“Really?” Nyota asks, storing that information for possible later use, “How can you tell?”

“It’s all in his face,” the Scot explains, “His eyes get this glint in ‘em, and he puffs his scales up a bit. Keenser’s like a funny little Roylan peacock.”

Nyota giggles, “Now that you mention it, I see what you’re talking about.” She pauses to digest this new information, “Does he speak Standard?”

The man takes a moment to mull over her question, “You could say that - the Royla are a telepathic species. They send thoughts to you and you interpret them in whatever language you choose. They can’t read your mind though. It’s a fascinating thing. And quite helpful when it comes to math and engineering, come to think of it.”

Nyota looks at him, somewhat puzzled, “What do you mean by that?”

The Scot laughs, “Every time Oyster-face there beams math at me I see it as equations and pictures in my mind. It’s easier than explaining concepts in words, ya know what I mean?”

Nyota nods in comprehension, “I can imagine. I’m a Xenolinguistics major, so I’m not exactly the biggest math whiz.” The man feigns indignation with an over-dramatic gasp.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Nyota assures him, “I can easily fix my own console or create a navigational computer program. It’s particle astrophysics that gives me trouble.”

“I’m always willing to tutor you, if need be,” the man says sincerely.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Nyota says, smiling, “But first, I’d love to get your name. I’m Uhura, by the way. Nyota Uhura.”

“Oh, right, of course,” the man says, extending a hand to the woman, “Engineer Montgomery Scott. Happy to make your acquaintance.”

“Wait… You’re Engineer Scott? You’re _the_ Scotty?!” Nyota exclaims.

Scotty’s cheeks flush slightly, “I… I guess I am. Why?”

“Is it really true you lost Admiral Archer’s beagle?” Nyota asks in a loud whisper.

The man points a finger at her indignantly, “That. Was. An accident.”

Nyota raises an eyebrow at him, “Uh huh. Just let me know when it reappears.”

Scotty rests his elbows down on the table, “I do feel a wee bit guilty about that sometimes. But I did more than enough time on Vega, so everyone should just forget about it.”

“Whatever you say, Monty,” Nyota laughs.

Scotty frowns, cocking his head in question.

“What?” Nyota freezes.   _Oh no, what did I do??_

“People usually call me Scotty,” the man tells her.

“Oh,” Nyota says, careful to keep up a calm front, “I can call you that if you prefer.”

“No, no, no,” the man says quickly, “This just might take some getting used to… Monty… _Monty_ … **_Monty_** …”

“Um… I…” Nyota starts.

Scotty interrupts her, as before, “How are Saturday nights for you?”

Nyota blinks in confusion, “What?”

“For… um… tutoring,” Scotty clarifies, “Are you available on Saturday nights?”

“Usually,” Nyota says, realization sweeping across her face, “How’s tomorrow night sound?”

“I get off work at 1930,” Scotty states.

“I’ll meet you here at 8pm, them,” Nyota nods, grinning, “But for now, if I could get those drinks, I really do have to get back to my friend.”

“Aye,” Scotty agrees, pouring her drinks from the tap and placing them on a tray, “Two Budweisers and a Slusho.”

“Thanks,” Nyota says picking up the drinks, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Monty!”

The man winks at her and turns to the next customer, “Back _again_ , sir?”

***

Nyota shows up at the bar on Saturday and takes a seat directly in front of the taps, checking her messages on her PADD as she waits for the Scotsman.

The man sidles up to her, and gently pushes a slusho into her hand, “Hello, lassie.”

Nyota smiles as she spins her chair around to face him. “Hey, you! How’s things?”

Scotty sighs and sips his scotch. “Well, my warp calculations are going nowhere fast, and that older Spock isn’t answering any of my messages. He _claims_ I discovered the equations in his timeline, but at the rate things are going I’m convinced he’s a big, fat liar.”

“Why would he have reason to lie?” Nyota asks, “What good would that do?”

The man purses his lips in thought, “I think he used me to get off that damn planet. Honestly, I don’t blame him.”

“But didn’t you leave him behind when you beamed onto the ship?”

“Yes, I did,” Scotty answers quickly, “I had to keep my equations on the computer back at the outpost to keep the transporter from malfunctioning while it was in operation. But I took a copy of them with me when I left that bastard there, of course.”

“How did he get back to Earth, then?”

“Maybe he hitched a ride on another starship. Or perhaps he even beamed aboard while we were busy in the engine room. I cannae tell you exactly. Maybe you should ask Keenser about it. I’m not sure how he got here either.”

Nyota laughs, “I just might take do that. I’d love to see exactly how his whole telepathy thing works.”

“It’s certainly an interesting experience,” Scotty drawls.  “A wee bit disorienting at first, yeah.  But once you get used to having senses sort of... shot at you, it seems pretty normal.”

“Well you can get used to just about anything, obviously,” Nyota offers.  “Like maybe… living in the middle of an ice planet?” she adds slyly.

“Hey there! Watch yourself,” Scotty says, mostly laughing.

“Oh, right. Sorry. I forgot just how recently you’d been a popsicle,” Nyota continues to tease. She’s not totally sure how far to push this: dating is still new territory. Spock wasn’t big on dates, not that they ever really went on anything even close to that. _He said he wasn’t interested in dating women_ , her mind whispers. _Would he be more open to dates if there was another male in that position?_

She’s suddenly aware Monty is snapping his fingers in front of her face. “Alright there lassie?” he asks.

She blushes. “Sorry. Lots of thoughts, today.”

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Scotty teases her back.

Nyota smiles faintly. “Right. No injuring myself thinking. It’s been a long few weeks, that’s all.”

“That it has,” Scotty agrees. His face twitches in indecision, then he takes a hold of her hand. “Care to talk about it?”

“Just adjusting to my new roommate, among other things,” Nyota mutters. “It’s not really much of a big deal, or anything. Let’s talk about something else, why don’t we?”

“Whatever you want,” Scotty says, a smile lighting up his face.

***

Several drinks later, Scotty walks her back to her dorm. “This was fun, Nyota.  I’d like to see you again, sometime,” he says.

“I’d like that,” she says, her voice slightly unsteady. She blames it on all the alcohol.  “Well… um… this is me,” she says.

“Right,” Scotty says. He’s still holding her hand. “Um… see you around, lassie?”

“Yeah. See you around, Monty,” Nyota says.

Scotty takes a hold of her other hand. “Uh… um…” He blushes, then leans in towards her. Nyota doesn’t even hesitate, leaning towards him. He places a gentle kiss on her lips, then pulls away quickly.  “Uh…”

“It was a lovely evening, Monty,” Nyota says quickly. Then, fumbling with her keys, she opens the door to her dorm, and watches Monty walk away.

“Soooooo, how was it?” Ohvpcht asks, lounging on xir bed as Nyota walks in.

“It was nice.  Monty’s a nice guy,” Nyota responds vaguely.

“Nice, huh? Usually, you’re a bit more articulate than that. Did he kiss you?” Fdgcvhscj demands.  

Nyota colors slightly.  “Um…”

“He did!” Iasdlfk exclaims triumphantly.  “I can’t believe it!  He kissed you!”

“Oh stop it!” Nyota says. “He did mention his friend, Keenser.”

“Keenser?” Dfogvbkev asks.

“Yeah, the Roylan. Apparently Keenser has his eye on you,” Nyota says with a smirk.

Vbpbvsc turns a dark purple. “Oh.  Um…”

“You wanna set me up, I can set you up too!” Nyota says in a semi sing song voice. “Jcvdpcsvtbv, I am going to get you a date!”

***


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Graduation, and a first mission.

A notification pops up on Nyota’s personal PADD while she is reviewing Klingon prefixes for her upcoming Xenolinguistics final. She groans in frustration at the distraction, tapping through her messages until she reaches the one from… Admiral Pike??

_I can look at this later_ Nyota tells herself, wanting to get back to studying before she lost the desire to finish her translation exercises. _No, I need to read it. But I can’t break my concentration. But I have to look at this right now. I can get back to Klingon practice later. Besides, the message is marked as priority one._ She taps at her PADD again and the Starfleet crest fills the screen.

“Wow, this really must be important,” Nyota mutters under her breath, eagerly scrolling down to the text.

_From: Admiral Pike [sent: Stardate 2258. 135]_   
_To: Lieutenant Kirk, Lieutenant Uhura, Lieutenant Commander Sulu, Ensign Chekov, Engineer Scott, Doctor McCoy, Nurse Chapel, [BCC] Commander Spock_

_I am writing to inform you that you are the new bridge crew of the USS Enterprise. Your positions are as follows:_

_\- Lieutenant James Kirk - Commanding Officer_   
_\- Lieutenant Uhura - Communications Officer_   
_\- Lieutenant Commander Sulu - Helm Officer_   
_\- Ensign Chekov - Navigator, Weapons Officer_   
_\- Engineer Scott - Chief Engineering Officer_   
_\- Doctor McCoy - Chief Medical Officer_   
_\- Nurse Chapel - Assistant Medical Officer_

_It is up to Captain Kirk to decide on a first officer before shipping out (Jim - please come talk to me about this if you need help choosing someone - I know how difficult a decision this can be). Your mission is classified for the time being, but I assure you I will explain it in more detail once you are aboard your ship._

_You will leave immediately after graduation on Stardate 2258.142. Your shuttle leaves for the Enterprise at 0800 hours._

_Congratulations, kids._

_\-- Admiral Christopher Pike_

“Thanks, Dad,” Nyota chuckles softly, a grin spreading across her face. She turns back to her class text and sharply clears her throat, “Ok… prefixes… here goes nothing.”

***

“This assembly calls Captain James Tiberius Kirk,” Nyota hears the Academy president intone once graduation speeches have finally finished. Jim walks down the auditorium steps to stand stoically before the assembly.

“Your inspirational valor and supreme dedication to your comrades are in keeping with the highest traditions of service and reflect utmost credit to yourself, your crew, and the Federation,” the president announces, “For your… _unique_ solution to the Kobayashi Maru, it is my honor to award you with a commendation for original thinking.”

The man opens a small box revealing a new medal which glints under the bright, fluorescent lights of the hall, “By Starfleet Order 28455, you are hereby directed to report to Commanding Officer, USS Enterprise, for duty as his relief.”

Kirk spins on his heels and steps over to Admiral Pike, “I relieve you sir.”

“I am relieved,” Pike responds, “Congratulations, Captain. Your father would be proud.” Smirking, the Admiral pins the aforementioned medal to Kirk’s chest.

Kirk grins as he shakes Pike’s hand “Thank you, Sir.” He beams as he turns to face the crowd. Thunderous applause echo through the hall - even Nyota finds herself whistling in appreciation, cutting off abruptly as Hljasdfau fixes her with a stunned look.

“What?! He deserves it,” Nyota says defensively, “Though if you ever tell him I told you that I’ll violently deny it.”

Bjfklassf laughs as the crowd calms down and begins to file out of the room, “I’d expect nothing less from you. Now let’s go eat before we get shipped out tonight.”

“...We?” Nyota asks, startled, “Where are you going?”

Ghaslgas takes out xir own PADD and pulls up xir email, “The Enterprise, silly! Same as you - but I’m going to be stationed in engineering, so I’m taking a different shuttle up there.”

“How did I not hear about this before?” Nyota asks, “We’re supposed to be best friends!”

Towierwet smiles at her, “I figured it would be more fun this way.”

“Yeah, ok,” Nyota concedes, “Now let’s get out of here before all the good food is gone.”

***

Admiral Pike fathers the new Enterprise bridge crew in shuttlebay 3 at precisely 0800 that night. He takes a quick headcount and leads the group to his favorite craft.

As the crew buckles themselves in, Pike’s voice crackles over the intercom, “Hello kids, this is Father Pike speaking.” The group laughs as the admiral chuckles to himself, “We will leave the hangar as soon as I get clearance. You will have approximately twenty minutes from arrival on the ship to our scheduled mission briefing. I suggest finding your quarters first and socializing after. There will be plenty of time for that later, I assure you. Now buckle up. Pike out.”

The cabin falls silent, aside from the clicking of seat belts. Nyota finds herself sitting between Scotty and Chekov, with Kirk and McCoy directly across the aisle.

“Plenty of time…” Nyota murmurs to herself.

Kirk swivels his head to glance at her, “What’s that?”

“It’s nothing,” Nyota answers quickly, “I was just wondering what Pike meant by ‘we’ll have plenty of time to socialize later’.”

“Well, we’re going to be in space,” McCoy supplies, “It’s a huge expanse, and we all know it takes a long-ass time to get anywhere.”

“Not at warp speed!” Kirk interjects, “We can go to from Earth to Mars in a matter of minutes, even at warp 1! And to the next system in only a few days.”

“Aye, he’s right,” Scotty agrees, “All hail Federation warp tech.”

“All hail,” Chekov and Sulu echo solemnly, in unison.

Nyota sifts through this information - _still, something seems wrong somehow_ , “How long would you say it would take to get to Vulcan?”

“I presume you mean new Vulcan?” Chekov asks, tapping at his PADD “At warp 8 we could get there in-”

“No,” Nyota cuts him off abruptly, “I mean where ‘old Vulcan’ used to be.”

“Oh,” Chekov runs the numbers again, “At warp 8 that would take just over 11 and a half days.”

“That’s not too long,” Nyota muses.

“Not at warp 8, no,” Scotty agrees, “But how long do you think we can keep that speed up before our gal decides to fall apart? We’d have to cut down to at least warp 6 after a few days.”

“If we made the whole trip at warp 6 it would take… just over 27 days,” Chekov pipes up.

“But again,” Scotty continues, “It would probably be best to just use warp 4 or 5 the whole time. To conserve energy.”

Chekov pokes at his PADD again, “Warp 5 would take almost 47 days… And warp 4 would take around 91 and a half.”

“Wow, that’s a lot longer than it seemed before,” Nyota says, “My astrophysics professor really didn’t do a good enough job explaining just how massive space really is.” The other officers nod in agreement as Pike’s voice crackles through the shuttle’s speakers.

“We’ll reach the Enterprise in a moment,” he says, “I recommend the view ports on the starboard bow of the shuttle. Welcome home, kids.”

***

"But sir, I still don't have a first officer," Kirk whines. Nyota wants to slap him silly for not just randomly picking someone before this.

Pike gives them a smirk. "Jim, I thought I told you to choose someone already. It's not my problem that you procrastinated."

"And I told you, I don't want anybody but Spock," Kirk says, much to Nyota's surprise.

"Well, as he doesn't seem to be here, I'd say: tough luck, kid," Pike says. His smirk says something else entirely. "In the meantime, you have a mission from Starfleet High Command.”

"Starfleet protocol says that a ship must have a Captain and first officer before shipping out," Kirk says promptly. "Therefore, we can't ship out yet. Sorry, Admiral. The Enterprise is unfit for duty."

Doctor McCoy has a slight coughing fit.

"Orders from top, kid. Ship out immediately," Pike says. “The details about your orders will be directly transmitted to your navigator, along with your coordinates. Good luck kids - don’t screw this up.”  With that ominous line, Pike glides off the bridge, hoverchair whooshing along.

“Alright Chekov, you heard the man. The coordinates should be incoming,” Kirk says, sprawling in the Captain’s chair. He’s the perfect picture of repose, with not a care in the world.  Nyota is interested to note what an act this is. The slight tension in his body wouldn’t be apparent to just anybody, but Nyota has been trained to pick up nonverbal clues.  There is something else going on there - there’s seemingly no reason for Kirk to try to stop the Enterprise from leaving on schedule.

The turbolift doors open again and Spock steps onto the bridge. Kirk springs to his feet and tugs at the bottom of his shirt nonchalantly.

“Permission to come aboard, Captain?”

Kirk smirks at the Vulcan before quickly answering him. “Permission granted.”

“As you have yet to select a first officer, respectfully I would like to submit my candidacy,” Spock says, striding towards the Captain’s chair, “Should you desire, I can provide character references.”

Kirk staves off a grin as Spock arches his eyebrows.

“It would be my honor, Commander.” Spock walks to the science station as Kirk gives the order to leave Spacedock.

“Maneuvering thrusters, Mr. Sulu,” he says, sitting back down and folding one leg over the other, “Take us out.”

“Aye, Captain,” Sulu replies with a grin, punching in a course and gearing the ship for warp. A low humming sound fills the bridge and the ship shudders for half a second before jumping forward and filling the main viewscreen with streaks of light.

***


	4. Chapter 4

“I’m glad you could all make it,” Pike says, glancing around the table in the conference room. “I have an important job for you.” He quickly types in a password and the Federation logo pops up on the monitor in front of him.

_CLASSIFIED INFORMATION:_   
_LEVEL **NINE** OR HIGHER SECURITY CLEARANCE NEEDED_

“Before we begin, you need to know this is extremely confidential information. You are to tell no one about this, including the rest of your crew. What I am about to tell you is on a need-to-know basis only. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Now that that’s understood - here’s the gist of your mission.” The admiral taps a few more keys and the federation logo dissolves to a personnel file, with the ID photo redacted.

“You all remember Nero’s attack, of course.” The bridge crew nods solemnly, all unmistakably trying not to sneak a glance at Spock.

“Then you all know how many people were lost that day.” The crew nods again. “What you don’t know is how many people made it out alive.”

“Fewer than ten thousand Vulcans are known to have survived,” Spock interjects, “I fail to see the relevance of your statement.”

“I meant crewmen, Spock. Starfleet officers.”

Kirk frowns. “I thought each ship took a roll call as soon as they reached headquarters.”

“They did.”

“Then how is the exact numbers of survivors different from what we were told a month after the attack?” Kirk retorts.

Pike sighs loudly. “I told you this was classified information. Can I please get through this before you ask any more questions?”

“Yeah, ok,” Kirk says, folding his arms over his chest. “Go on.”

“Thank you,” Pike says, in mock gratitude. “You were all told the Farragut was lost, yes?” Everyone at the table nods suspiciously.

“What you weren’t told was that Starfleet Command believes it wasn’t destroyed.”

Uhura’s eyes light up. “It wasn’t?”

“No one knows for sure, of course,” Pike continues. “That’s your objective. We know the precise location where the ship lost radio contact, but we have been unable to find the ship by conventional means. There is no wreckage anywhere close to old Vulcan that can be tied back to the Farragut, nor is there any kind of warp or transporter trail to follow. That said, Starfleet received a transmission on a Fleet wavelength from this sector on stardate 2258.135, so we have reason to believe at least some of the Farragut’s crew may still be alive. Starfleet needs this crew to scour the neighboring planets for signs of a Starship crash.”

“You mean you couldn’t send a probe to do this?” McCoy asks. “Why endanger our lives for something a piece of machinery could easily do?”

“That’s the problem,” Scott says, before Pike can answer. “The newly created black hole in this quadrant creates too much distortion in space to get accurate readings from a probe.”

“Goddamn crappy space technology,” McCoy mumbles under his breath. Spock’s eyebrow quirks upward but he stays silent, his mouth shut tightly.

“Do you understand your mission, Captain?” Pike asks Kirk.

“Of course,” Kirk replies. “Find the ship, rescue the survivors, bring them back to base. Couldn’t be simpler.”

Pike shakes his head. “This ‘simple mission’ will be harder than you think, Jim. That’s why I’m here.”

“It’s just a search and rescue!”

“Of semi-uncharted planets,” Sulu adds.

“Without a working scanner,” Chekov chimes in.

“Yeah, but still…”

“Don’t argue with me, Jim,” Pike chides. “You forget I know what a first mission is like. I was a young captain like you once, too. That’s why I was assigned as your supervisor for the length of this mission.”

“He has a point there,” McCoy whispers to Kirk. Kirk glares at the doctor, then falls silent.

“You have your orders,” Pike says, pushing his hoverchair away from the table and gliding out of the room.

“I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again,” Scott says, as soon as the doors swish shut. “I like this ship! It’s exciting!” Everyone but Spock laughs loudly.

“Ok, back to work,” Kirk declares, once the group settles down. “We’ve got officers to find.”

***

Kirk saunters onto the bridge during night shift and sits down in his designated chair.

“Uhura!” he calls, turning his chair to face the communications station.

“Yes, Captain?”

“Any new messages?”

“Nothing substantial,” Uhura responds, “Just typical subspace chatter and lots of static.”

“Wonderful… Ok, back to work.” the captain swivels his chair back around to look at the screen. “Lieutenant Darwin! How’re we doing?”

“We’re still on route, Captain,” the navigator responds, “No delays yet, but Engineering reports the warp coil may start to degrade if we keep up top speed for more than another six hours.”

“Understood. Let me know when we reach that point, then dial it back a warp factor. Keep up that pattern for as long as it takes.”

“Aye, sir.” The woman taps at her console. “Warp instructions now laid in. May I ask what this mission is about, Captain?”

“You can absolutely ask,” Kirk says, quickly switching his attention to the viewscreen. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean I have to answer you.”

The navigator frowns. “Come on, Captain - what are we doing? I know we’re headed to the Beta Quadrant, presumably back to Old Vulcan, but I can’t figure out why we’d want to do that. Wasn’t everything already cleaned up by Starfleet?”

Kirk drags a hand across his mouth. “That’s what I thought too…”

Darwin grins. “So we _are_ doing something related to Nero!”

“I didn’t say that,” the captain groans.  Uhura tries her best not to snicker.  Snickering is unprofessional.

“Of course not, sir.” The lieutenant discretely pulls out her personal PADD and opens the shipwide messenger application.

“Stop that!” Kirk demands. “This mission is top secret. You aren’t supposed to know about any of it, so put. that. away.”

“Yes, sir,” Darwin says, looking sheepish. She stows the device back in her pocket and turns back to the console, careful not to meet Kirk’s eyes in the reflection of the viewscreen.  Uhura bites her lip to keep from laughing out loud.

“And don’t go blabbing about about this to any of your friends when you get off duty, either,” the captain orders. “If I find out everyone on the ship somehow knows about this tomorrow I’ll personally make sure you’re thrown in the brig until we’re back at Fleet headquarters.”

Darwin swallows. “Yes, sir. My lips are sealed.”

“Good,” Kirk says, smiling broadly. “Now what’s our ETA?”

“If we could keep up this speed the whole time, approximately eleven days. Compensating for rate of velocity decrease…” the navigator presses some buttons on her console. “Almost a month. 29 days, at most.”

“Perfect.” The captain stands up and makes his way to the turbolift. “I’ll be down in medbay if you need me. Uhura, you have the conn.”

“Sir?”

“You heard me.”

“Aye, sir.” Uhura gets up from her post and sits down in the newly-vacated Captain’s chair. “This should be a breeze. I mean, if _you_ can do it anyone can.”

“You’ll do great,” Kirk says, flashing Uhura a mock salute before the doors shut. “Sickbay. And make it snappy.”

***

Nyota sits in the officers mess hall, late at ship’s ‘night’, after most of her off-shift friends have gone to bed, staring at her PADD.   _The USS Farragut might still be intact.  Gaila could still be alive!_

It’s hard to sleep, thinking her friend could be alive.  Nyota can’t stop thinking about the last time she spoke with Galia.  That was the night after Kirk’s last run of the Kobayashi Maru.  Nyota had still been furious about walking into their room to find Kirk hiding under Galia’s bed.

_Maybe I was justified in being annoyed with her.  I told her she had to stop bringing guys... and girls... back to our room - at least without some kind of warning.  But still… the last thing I ever said to her…_

_If Galia is still alive, I can make it up to her.  I can tell her…_

_Tell her what?  That I don’t really care that she was sleeping with Kirk?  That I didn’t really mean to yell at her?  Because I did._

She’s so lost in thought that she doesn’t hear the door open.  Nor does she hear or see Scotty  walk in until he’s standing in front of her.

“Lassie?  Why are you still awake?” Scotty says.

Nyota jumps, and turns around.  “How did you know I was here?”

“The Commander told me you might be here.  You have an early shift tomorrow, Nyota.  Why aren’t you asleep?”

 _The Commander…_ Nyota takes a moment to process that.  “ _Spock_ told you?  Why?”

“He seemed worried.  Or as worried as Vulcans ever seem to be,” Scotty says dismissively.  “Nyota, you didn’t answer me.  Why are you still awake 3 hours before your shift?”

Nyota files that bit of information away for further processing.  “Why are you still awake?” Nyota asks, avoiding the question.

“I just got off shift.  Engineering keeps odd hours.  Stop dodging the question lassie.  What’s wrong?”

“Remember I told you about adjusting to having a new roommate, a while back?” Nyota says slowly.  He’s clearly not going away without some kind of answer.

“Aye.”

“Well, my previous roommate was assigned to the Farragut, during the initial attack on Vulcan.  I didn’t exactly part with her on good terms,” Nyota admits slowly.

Scotty sits down across from her.  “And you think she could still be alive.”  It’s not really phrased as a question.

“Yeah.  Will she still want to see me, after the things I said to her?” Nyota asks.  She stares down at her PADD again, the brightness of the screen hurting her eyes.

“Aye.  If she’s really your friend like you say she is, then I’m sure she will,” Scotty says.  He yawns, then reaches over and dims the screen on the PADD.  “Too bright, even from over here,” he explains.  He leaves his hand on the table next to the PADD, inches from her own hand.

“I don’t know, though.  What if she’s angry with me?”  Nyota asks, still staring at the PADD.

“Lassie.  Try not to worry about it so much,” Scotty advises.  He slides his hand closer, until it’s covering hers.  “You’ve got lots of time between now and when we finally get close to the wreckage.  Don’t beat yourself up over something you can’t control.”

Nyota sighs.  “You’re right, of course.”

“Get some sleep before shift,” Scotty orders her.  “Come on.  I’ll walk you back to your room.” They walk out of the mess hall, Nyota still holding her PADD in one hand and clutching Scotty’s hand with the other.

***


	5. Chapter 5

“Captain, these reports need your signature,” Spock says, standing to the side of the Captain’s chair.

“Give them here, Spock,” Jim says.

Uhura glances over from her station, just in time to see Spock’s hands brush against the captain’s when he hands over the tablet. Jim acts as if he doesn’t know what just happened - as though Vulcan kissing his First Officer on the bridge is normal for him.

“Everything looks to be in order, Mr. Spock,” Jim says, scribbling his signature on the surface with his finger, and handing the PADD back to Spock. Uhura, watching more closely this time, sees Spock rub his fingers against Jim’s. Spock looks slightly greener than usual.

_Interesting._

“Something the matter, Lieutenant?” Kirk asks Nyota.

“What? No, sorry sir,” Nyota says quickly.

“Just staring at this fine work of art?” Kirk asks, gesturing at himself. “Work of art? _Kirk_ of art?”

Spock’s eyes narrow.

“ **No** , sir,” Nyota says with feeling. “There is nothing in this galaxy that could induce me to look at you like that.”

Kirk pouts. “Awww.”  

“Should I report you for sexual harassment, _sir_?” Nyota asks. It’s not really a fair comment, but she’s tired, grumpy, and out of patience.

“Stow it, Uhura. I’m just joking. You were staring at me. I was confused. Calm down,” Kirk says exasperatedly. “Spock, why are you still standing here?”

“Sorry, Captain.” Spock walks back to his station, arm touching briefly against the captain’s shoulder, almost possessively.

“Sorry, sir. Everyone’s a bit on edge and antsy,” Nyota says, swallowing her pride. “I wouldn’t _really_ write you up for sexual harassment.”

“Pike never mentioned just how long these deep space missions could run - or how boring they are from point A to point B,” Kirk says.

“So… no hard feelings?” Nyota asks. Kirk raises his eyebrows. Nyota can just tell he’s about to make a dirty joke. “There will be many hard feelings if you make the joke I can tell you’re about to,” she says quickly.

“Right, right. Professionalism. No hard feelings,” Kirk responds.

Nyota smiles, and goes back to her work. She resolves to catch Spock after shift some day to find out exactly what just happened there.

***

Kirk makes his way over to Uhura during a particularly dry moment later in duty shift and brings up the week’s duty roster on his PADD. “So I was reading through this last night, learning the crew’s names and whatnot…” he trails off, visibly embarrassed.

“And you’re coming to me because you want memorization techniques?” Uhura snaps.

“No no. Nothing like that.” Kirk pokes at the PADD again, brightening the dimming screen. “I just need help with a name.”

“A name?”

Kirk draws in a quick breath and lets it out slowly. “The pronunciation. Of this name.” he points at the screen. “I just can’t seem to figure it out. It’s like Polish, but somehow more confusing…”

Nyota smirks. “Yeah, that one gave me some trouble a while back too.”

“You already know this crewman?”

“Of course I do! Xe was my new roommate at the academy, after Gaila…” Nyota trails off.

“Oh… I’m sorry…”

“No, it’s ok,” Nyota says, clearing her throat. “Now about that pronunciation?”

Kirk taps the PADD again, and points at the name in question. “Kd… Kdytk… Kdytkiowes. I just can’t figure this one out. I was trying for hours last night, and for once the ship’s linguistic memory banks are no help.”

Uhura shakes her head, and gently takes the PADD out of the captain’s hand. “Just repeat after me.”

“Yeah, ok. Shoot.”

She points to the first half of the name. “This part is ‘Kee-’. It’s an abnormally long e-sound.”

“Kee-” Kirk parrots.

“Good.” Uhura says, moving her finger to the middle of the word. “This bit is ‘Smaa-’, but be careful not to say ‘Smah-’ or ‘Smay-’... You don’t want to know what that accidentally translates to in xir language. Trust me.”

“Smaa-” Kirk says.

Uhura nods, then points to the last few letters in the name. “This is just ‘Shh-’”

“Shh-”

“Kee-smaa-shh,” Uhura says, pointing to each syllable in turn.

“Kee-smaa-shh.”

“Perfect.” Nyota hands the PADD back to the captain. “But before you go, I have a quick question.”

“What’s that?”

“The heck was that with you and Spock twenty minutes ago?”

“Me and…?” Kirk starts, blinking at Uhura in confusion.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Captain. You know exactly what I’m talking about - the finger touching and the arm thing and…” She frowns, noticing the look on Kirk’s face. “You really don’t know what I’m talking about do you?”

“I…”

Uhura groans. “You know what, just forget about it. I have work to finish, Captain. If you don’t mind.”

“N-not a problem,” Kirk stutters, “And thank you - I owe you one.”

“I’ll remember you said that,” Uhura responds, turning back to her console.

Kirk sighs as he sits back down in his chair. “I’m sure you will. And I’m sure I’ll regret ever giving you the opportunity.”

***

It doesn’t take much to track down Spock. He’s always in the predictable place - the bridge on shift, the mess hall shortly after, and his quarters immediately after that, or anytime he isn’t in either of the other places.

Nyota tracks him to the officer’s mess hall after shift. “Hey, Spock? Can we talk?” she asks, trying to not have flashbacks to the last time she asked him to talk.

“I believe, Lieutenant, that we are talking,” Spock replies, much as he did the last time.

“Right, right, Vulcan literalism. Generally, Spock, when someone asks ‘can we talk’, they mean in private,” Nyota explains, trying to keep the exasperation from her voice.

“Ah. I shall keep that in mind for the next time you ask me to talk, then. I was about to walk back to my quarters: would you like to accompany me?” Spock asks.

“Sure. Sounds great.” Nyota follows him out of the mess hall. She keeps quiet until they reach Spock’s quarters, talking about ship’s business and other such mundanities. Finally, the door closes behind them in Spock’s quarters. His rooms on the Enterprise look much like his office at the Academy - mostly barren, with few personal touches. Nyota notices a Vulcan instrument, as well as a pair of traditional weapons adorning the room.

“What is on your mind, Nyota?” Spock asks, turning to face her with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Out with it.  What the hell is going on with you and the Captain?” Nyota asks. “I was talking to Jim earlier, and he has no idea what you’re doing. He’s clueless, and you’re taking advantage of that.”

“It was never my intention…”

“Like hell. Spock, what’s going on?”

“I have reason to believe the Captain and I are _t’hy’la_. You are familiar with the term’s translation into Standard, I presume?” Spock asks, as if he was still her professor, back at the Academy.

“Oh yes,” Nyota breathes. Her mind is racing. _T’hy’la_ \- the closest Vulcans have to romance, or the idea of a soul mate. The concept of having another being that is friend, brother and lover all at once is a totally foreign, alien concept, without the context of Vulcan history. This one term was always one of the most fascinating aspects of Vulcan culture to her, albeit one of the less discussed areas.

“I see you are. You understand the implications, I presume” Spock continues.

“Well, yes. But when did you know? Why haven’t you told Jim? Spock, this is…”

“Shameful?” Spock interjects.

“No!”

“Yes. I discovered Jim and I were _t’hy’la_ when I so unwisely attacked him on the bridge,” Spock says softly. “The shame of having hurt, and having attempted to kill one’s _t’hy’la_ is immense. It is a shame from which I may never be able to recover.”

“But you didn’t know, then,” Nyota protests. _No wonder Spock didn’t wish to pursue a relationship with me - not knowing something so much better was there on the horizon. And it’s not like I’m hurting for options... Why waste both of our times? It wouldn’t be logical?_

“Nevertheless,” Spock says, unconvinced.

“Spock, you need to tell him,” Nyota presses.

Spock shifts from one leg to the other. “I cannot.”

“Spock, you have to! First off, he’ll figure out what you’re really doing when you touch his hands or shoulder, if he hasn’t figured it out already. And he’s going to be so pissed if you don’t tell him now.”

“I thank you for your counsel, Nyota, but you do not fully understand the full implications…”

“Spock.  Stop talking, and listen to yourself for just a few seconds.  You have a chance for something wonderful here. Don’t you dare waste it. If you and Jim are really _t’hy’la_ , then I double he’ll really care if you tried to strangle him once upon a time when you were already emotionally compromised and he was purposely goading you. So stop wallowing in self pity, and go get your man,” Nyota says cutting Spock off in mid sentence.

“Nyota…”

“If you don’t tell him within a week of when he figures out that you’ve been sneaking kisses from him, I will tell him, or so help me,” Nyota threatens.

Spock inclines his head. “I will take it under advisement.”

“That’s a promise, not a threat, Spock. I will do it. Don’t try me. If you want to keep your private Vulcan matters private, you’ll do it yourself.”

“As you say,” Spock says.  

Nyota takes the hint, and leaves.

***

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we apologize for our far too long hiatus between chapters. first came finals, then work, then the craziness that is summer... but we're somewhat more back on track now


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to get interesting. In so many different ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry we've been a bit sporadic with the updates. Summer has been pretty rough, and we're trying to get a chapter buffer before school starts up again. But enjoy this newest installment.
> 
> -LylaRivers

Nyota steps out of the turbolift and takes a moment in the corridor to compose herself when a voice suddenly breaks through the fog of her exhaustion.

“I’m telling you, Bones! Why won’t you believe me?!”

“No. I refuse to believe it,” a man with a distinctive southern drawl replies. “Vulcans are too private to do anything like that. Just ask Spock. I’m sure he’d concur.”

“I… don’t really want to talk to Spock right now.”

“I can’t imagine why…”

“Oh shut up.”

“I’ll shut up when I feel like shutting up. Now get out of my office. I have real live patients in here, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah. But I can bring it up on your computer right now, if you still think I’m lying to you.”

“Don’t touch that!” Nyota tenses at the loud clattering noise that echoes down the hallway. “Dammit, Jim!”

“Come on - I don’t want to be the only one who knows about this, and it’s not like I’m about to ask Uhura about it. This is all her fault, you know.” Nyota rolls her eyes, and stealthily moves closer to the sickbay doors. She ducks around the nearest corner and leans against the wall, shutting her eyes.

“You know that door is wide open, right? Half the ship knows about your little problem now. But the more important thing is I don’t want any goddamn Vulcan _porn_ on my work computer!” Nyota hastily covers her mouth to avoid a loud burst of laughter.

“Ah! So you believe me after all?”

“I didn’t say that…”

“Maybe not, but it was implied.”

“Sure it was…” Uhura grins as a chorus of rapid keyboard clicks fills the hall.

“Jim!! I told you I didn’t want that on my computer! Why did you have to -”

Kirk’s laughter drowns out the doctor’s complaining. “Don’t be such a baby. They invented search history deletion software for a reason.”

“I hate you…”

“Love you too, Bones!” the captain pauses abruptly. “Ow! Fine, I’ll leave!”

Uhura peeks around the corner just far enough to see the captain walking out the door of the medical bay, absentmindedly rubbing at his neck with a free hand. “What a prude…”

She waits until Kirk is completely out of eyeshot, then promptly returns to her room to get some sleep before the next day’s early shift.

_Spock has one week, starting now._

***

Morning shift starts like every other. Chekov and Sulu are already at their posts before Uhura arrives, both clutching steaming hot cups of coffee. Spock strides in precisely as the bridge chronometer shows the next hour and the captain shows up two minutes later, still in the process of styling his hair.

Uhura rolls her eyes and punches the diagnostic control on her console.

_ALL SYSTEMS OPERATING AT 100% - PRIMED FOR SUBSPACE SCANS_

She directs the main scanner towards the Vulcan system and waits. Just under an hour later something catches her attention. It takes the lieutenant a few minutes to finish recording the signal before calling the captain to her station.

“Listen to this!” Uhura says excitedly, handing her earpiece to the captain and playing the signal for him. “You’ll have to give me about five more minutes to siphon out the excess static, but I’m almost positive this is a message from a fleet vessel!”

Kirk’s eyes widen in surprise, attaching the device to his ear. “Are you sure? This sounds like normal subspace noise to me.”

Uhura nods her head vigorously, “It’s on a fleet wavelength, so there’s no other good explanation, aside from anti-Federation espionage.” She hits a button on her console, replaying the message. “Forget about the background hissing. Focus on the higher pitched tone in the background. Notice how it’s alternating? This isn’t the regular, flat buzzing of normal subspace messages.”

“Yeah, I hear it now,” Kirk says, handing the earpiece back to Uhura. “Report back to me once you get this cleaned up. Let’s hope it’s something important - I’d hate to get sidetracked by another unexpected mission.”

“Yes, sir,” Uhura responds as Kirk returns to his chair, transferring the audio file to a communications PADD and punching up audio scrubbing software. Once the message is clean enough, she records the beeps as a series of dots and dashes in a word file, then sends it through a translation program. She only barely manages to stifle a scream as the translation comes up on the screen.

_... --- ... / ..-. .- .-. .-. .- --. ..- - / .- .-.. .. ...- ._

_SOS / FARRAGUT / ALIVE_

“Captain!” Uhura yells. Half the bridge crew jumps and all eyes turn to her.

“It’s-” she catches herself, realizing half the current bridge crew wasn’t at Pike’s meeting. “It’s… it could be important. I think you should see this.”

The captain all but runs over to Uhura’s station and grabs the PADD she held out to him. “Morse code?”

“Yes, sir,” Uhura answers, unable to keep a wide grin off her face.

Kirk lowers his voice and leans down towards the lieutenant, “You’re sure this is from the Farragut?”

“I’m not positive, Captain, but there’s a very good chance. The message appears to have originated from within the Vulcan system, not to mention it’s on a fleet wavelength. In morse code. In Federation Standard.”

“All good points,” Kirk says. “But you can never be too careful. Double check the message’s subspace trajectory with Spock and Chekov then call a meeting with the rest of the bridge crew in the conference room. I’ll tell Pike about the briefing personally. In the meantime keep hailing frequencies open, just in case.”

“Aye, sir,” Uhura says, quickly tapping out a message to the crew. Moments later Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura are in the turbolift, leaving Lieutenant Darwin as Acting Captain.

***

Uhura sits in the mess hall, fiddling with her PADD.  Kirk had ordered her to take time off, after spending several hours laboring over the Morse code message from the Farragut.  She had first translated the entire message, slowly.  Her Morse skills were just rusty enough to make the translation a slow, painful process.  It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the computer program - she just had to double and triple check for herself.  Then she had spent an hour trying to boost the signal enough to pinpoint exactly where the message was originating.

Unfortunately the message was broadcasting widely, and with too many interruptions of static to make it easy to trace.  She had slowly reverted to swearing at the station in as many languages as she could think of creative insults in.  Which was a lot.  Once Uhura had progressed from Klingon to Orion to finally Vulcan, and Spock started raising his eyebrows, Kirk had ordered her to take a break.

But still, she couldn’t stop entirely.  She kept her PADD streaming the Morse code, so she could hopefully work on tracing more.  She was so absorbed in the translation that she didn’t notice Keenser sit down across from her until he pulled her PADD out of her hand.

 _“What are you working on?”_ she hears directly in her mind.

Uhura jumps.  She’d forgotten about Roylan telepathy.

“Trying to trace a transmission.  But I don’t have enough power,” she explains.

There’s a complex image including Monty, and a whole host of engineering type math equations she doesn’t understand.   _“Would that help?  More power?”_

“More power would be wonderful, if you can do it,” Uhura says.  “But my station on the bridge, not here.”

 _"More doable, not less on the bridge,"_ Keenser replies.

"Thank you so much," Uhura says. "Oh. By the way..."

_"Yes?"_

"You and Whlicvejnvatojv..." Uhura says, trailing off.

Keenser blushes - well, as much as a Roylan can blush - and flees.

Uhura grins and turns to enjoy a few more minutes of time off before she tries to find the Farragut again.

***

“Hey, Uhura, can we talk?” Kirk asks, pulling her aside after another fruitless shift.

“What do you want?” Uhura asks, grumpy.  She’s not much closer to tracking the Farragut, even with the added power from Keenser.

“Look, it’s about… um… what’s going on between you and Spock?” Kirk asks quickly.

“Absolutely nothing.  We’re friends, nothing more,” Uhura says, annoyance fading to curiosity.  “Why?  Interested, Kirk?”

“Um…” Kirk stutters.  “Well, I was just… wondering, because… well… you see…”

Uhura tries to hide laughter.  “What do I see?” she asks.   _Great stars and galaxies, he figured out what Spock’s been doing with his sneaky Vulcan hands.  It sure didn’t take him long.  And now he’s trying to figure out how to tell me.  Or something._

“I just… well… Spock…”

“Spock what?” Uhura asks, knowing full well the answer.

“Do you know about Vulcan hands?” Kirk finally blurts out.

Uhura bursts out laughing.  “You’ve finally gotten there, huh?  It’s about time.”   _Spock has one week before I spill the beans on Kirk._ Uhura thinks gleefully.   _This is going to be fun!_

“What’s going on?” Kirk demands.

“Ask Spock,” Uhura says, trying not to grin _too_ widely.  “He should be the one to tell you.”   _Assuming he doesn’t take his sweet time with this_ , Uhura adds as a mental caveat.   _If this doesn’t happen in exactly one week from this moment, I’m taking all the fun_.

“You have a maniacal grin on your face.  I’m scared,” Kirk remarks.

“Good.  You should be,” Uhura says, then walks away.  She passes Spock on her way back to her quarters.  “Spock.  One week, remember?” she asks.

“To what are you referring, Lieutenant?” Spock asks, raising his eyebrows.

“You know what I’m talking about.  Kirk.  One week.  He’s aware,” Uhura says, a broad grin crossing her face.  “Have fun and good luck!”  With that, she sweeps into her room to get some sleep.

***


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be warned: this is 90% pure crack
> 
> Also - we're sorry for the crazy long breaks between chapters. Summer was busy, but school is so much worse... So here's a 2-chapter update to make up for such a long stretch of nothing.

“Look, I don’t understand why you’re dancing around the topic!” Uhura hears an angry voice shout from around the corner.  She peeks into the room, and pulls her head back just as quickly.  Kirk and Spock are glaring at each other like they’re about to get into another strangling match.

“It is not a widely discussed topic in Vulcan culture,” Spock says stiffly.

“Well, I’m not Vulcan, so you can stuff your embarrassment up your ass where it belongs, and tell me what the hell is going on!” Kirk shouts.  “Do I need to make it an order from a superior officer?”

“Please keep your voice down,” Spock implores him.

“No, you know what?  I don’t think I will!”  There’s a sudden burst of movement - Uhura assumes Kirk has started to pace.  “I shouldn’t have to find out from my Communications Officer that my First Officer is copping a feel in super sneaky Vulcan terms!”

“If you wish to transfer me, I will put in a request…”

“No!  I don’t want to transfer you!  I want you here, on this ship!  But I want to know what’s going on, Spock.  Just… for once in your goddamn life, open up to someone, and explain.  I want…”  But here, Kirk cuts off abruptly.

Uhura frowns.  It’d be so much better if she could see what was going on.  She takes out her PADD, and opens up the security cam streams she hacked the first week here.  Always better to be safe than sorry, and know what’s going on.  Carefully, she pulls up the security cameras on this side of the deck, and searches for the one she wants.

There’s a grunt from the room.  Uhura’s fingers fly faster over the PADD until she sees Spock on the screen, grabbing Kirk’s arm.  “Tell me,” Spock demands.  Uhura can hear the muffled noises from the room next to her in unison with the tinny noise from her tablet speakers.

“Tell you what?” Kirk asks.  His voice sounds breathless, like a too excited teenager.

“Tell me what you want.”

“No.  Tell me what’s going on, first,” Kirk whines.  His voice has switched from excited to petulant and whiny in a second.

“I… I cannot,” Spock says.  He lets go of Kirk’s arm.  Uhura has just enough warning to back up, away from the door, before Spock storms out of the room.

She puts an eye back on the screen.  Kirk has sunk to the ground, head held in his hands, the picture of utter dejection.

She has a sudden urge to strangle Spock herself.

***

Uhura picks at her food, unable to focus.  Spock was _so close_ to telling Kirk, and he _didn’t_.  Uhura could actually scream right now.  He was _right there_!!

Uhura jumps about a mile when a warm hand is laid on her shoulder.  “You alright lassie?” Monty asks.

Uhura gasps for breath.  “Yeah, I’m fine.  You just scared me there, is all.”

Monty slides into the seat next to her.  “Deep in thought?  Or lost in work?”

“That’s kind of a good question,” Uhura agrees.  “Technically, lost in thought.  But I suppose you could say it’s part of my job as the communications officer to make sure that… ah…. _communications_ between our commanding officers are running smoothly.”

“Are the lads arguing again?” Monty asks wisely.

“Ahhh… ‘arguing’ isn’t perhaps… the _best_ word to use,” Uhura says cautiously.  “They’re more sort of… dancing around each other.  Figuratively.  Because Vulcans don’t dance.  Or argue, for that matter.  Or have any fun whatsoever.”

“Bitter, love?” Monty asks her.

“Me?  Bitter? About _him_? Not exactly.  More like, I’m beyond pissed off at him, actually,” Uhura confesses.

“Why?” Monty asks.  He slips his hand into her lap to cover her hand with his.

Uhura debates.  She’s torn - does she tell Monty about Spock and Kirk like she so desperately wants to, or does she respect Spock’s privacy, as he so clearly wants?  Respect for Spock wins out.  “I’m not really sure I can say,” she says.  “It’s not exactly my business.”

Monty smiles.  “That’s alright.  Whatever it is, I’m sure I can wait to find out.  And any fool can see the captain is pining after the commander.  Perhaps, vise-versa, as well?”

Uhura smiles brightly.  “Perhaps, indeed.”  She pulls out her PADD, and opens up a communication to Spock.   _YOU’RE AN IDIOT_ she types in all caps.  Then, without any other context, she sends it.  From across the hall, she sees Spock open up his PADD, and glance over at her, dark eyes inscrutable.  She smiles brightly at him, and taps her wrist, where she would keep a watch when not in uniform.  The message is clear.  He’s running out of time until she tells Kirk herself.

***

“Look, Captain, there’s nae anything I can do about it!” Scotty drawls.  “I haven’t the time nor technology available for this!  This lovely lassie was nae equipped for this kind of repair!”

“But we need to get there faster, Scotty!” Kirk says, drumming on his chair with his fingers.  “This could be a matter of life or death.”

“I just don’t have the personnel or equipment to perform such a massive engine rehaul in flight!” Scotty protests again.

“Captain.  I found the system,” Uhura breaks into the whine fest.  

“Exact location?” Kirk asks eagerly.

“Planet Gamma Vega, in the Vulcan system,” Uhura says.  “We’re not terribly far away, actually.  Like… three to four days, even at a solid Warp 4, not the alternating Warp 4 and Warp 6 we’ve been using.”

“Gamma Vega?” Kirk asks with a frown.

“Oh no.  No more ice.  I’ve had enough ice on any damn planet named ‘Vega’ for a lifetime!” Scotty shouts.  “I don’t want to even be _near_ Delta Vega.”

“Delta Vega?   _The_ Delta Vega?” Kirk asks.  He swivels his chair around to glare at Spock.  “As in, the Delta Vega you marooned me on, just a few months ago?”

“It would appear to be a similar planet, Captain,” Spock says stiffly.

“No, actually, it’s not,” Uhura breaks in, unable to take any more of the bitch fest that’s inevitable here.  “Gamma Vega is made up entirely of thick rain forests and jungles.  Climate wise, it’s the polar opposite of Delta Vega.”

“ _Polar_ opposite?” Kirk asks.  “Really, Lieutenant?  I’ve had enough polar weather to last a lifetime!”

“Ouch, Kirk.  That’s a bit cold of you,” Uhura says, trying to maintain a straight face. “You don’t appreciate me telling you about the planet we’re visiting?”

“Don’t hit her with an avalanche of criticism, now,” Sulu says from the helm.  He doesn’t turn, but Uhura imagines a shit-eating grin on his face.

“You must hawe a heart of ice to be so cruel, Keptin,” Chekov chimes in.

“You are all horrible, heartless bastards,” Kirk declares.

“My mother and father were wed, therefore your assessment of me as a ‘bastard’ is incorrect,” Spock replies immediately.  “Additionally, if I did not have a heart, as you put it, I would not be living, because I would have no organ with which to pump blood.”

“ _Thank you_ , Spock.  Remind me to explain figures of speech later,” Kirk says, only somewhat exasperated.

“Of course, Captain,” Spock says primly, but Uhura thinks she sees a faint glint in his eyes.

“This is just a further attempt to punish you,” Uhura says, finally allowing herself to smile.  “This storm of puns is well deserved.”

“I surrender, I surrender!” Kirk says finally.  “You lot all just need to let it go.”

The entire bridge crew groans in unison, with the exception of Spock.  “If I ever hear you quote that Disney movie again, so help me, I will mutiny, and maroon you again.” Scotty says.  “And that’s a fate I’d wish on no man.”

***

With the looming excitement of an away mission, the next two days pass relatively quickly.  It feels like no time at all before Gamma Vega is hanging in the distance of the view screen.  The closer they draw to the planet, the more difficulty Uhura has sitting still.

”Well.  There she is,” Kirk remarks, lounging in his chair.  “Gamma Vega.”

“A wery pretty planet, to be sure, Keptin,” Chekov says.  He swivels in his chair to look at the rest of the crew.  “Let’s hope ze reception isn’t too… chilly.”

There are a couple groans around the bridge.  

“Don’t you dare, Chekov,” Kirk says warningly.

“Who, me, Keptin?” Chekov asks sweetly.  “I just think it vould be wery… ah… _cool_ to spend some time on the planet.”

Kirk groans.  “Do you want to get into this?  Do you really want to open this door?”

“Awww, Keptin, don’t give me ze cold shoulder here,” Chekov pouts.  

“You’re not gonna love it, once it’s open,” Kirk warns.

Uhura turns back to her computer.  If the two of them are going to bicker and play games… Her fingers fly across the console, searching for the relatively obscure old song.  With everything going on, there’s no way she can pass up an opportunity this good.  Once she’s all set up, she listens back into the banter.

“Puns vere inwented in Russia, Keptin!” Chekov insists.

“Hey Chekov.  What about memes?” Uhura asks. And then she hits play.

Music blares over the speakers.  “We’re no strangers to love….” the voice croons overhead.  “You know the rules, and so do I…”

Kirk stares at Uhura in shock, then starts laughing.  He almost falls out of his chair.  At the helm, Sulu and Chekov high five, as Sulu sings along horribly.  Spock swivels in his chair very slowly to turn to look at her.  He arches a single eyebrow, moving at the speed of a snail.

Uhura grins at him, and taps her wrist again.  She starts to sing along.  “Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and hurt you.  Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye…”

Spock looks distinctly unimpressed.  But it doesn’t matter.  Because in three days time, Kirk’s going to know, even if Uhura has to do it herself.

***


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew learns a little something about the natives of this planet. The Prime Directive must be observed at all costs, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, fair warning for massive crack. Like... I literally have no explanation. Enjoy the chapter!
> 
> Hopefully the posting schedule will get more regular, but don't count on it. School is horrible and takes away much needed writing time.

“So that’s the plan,” Kirk says, switching off the conference room projector. He looks around the table at his bridge officers. “Any questions?”

Uhura’s hand flies up.

Kirk points at her. “Yes, lieutenant.”

“So let me get this straight, Captain. What you’re telling us is you’re planning on taking a whole away team down to an uncharted planet, in full uniform, so you can scan the whole place by hand?”

Kirk nods. “That’s the plan.”

“Have you never heard of a little thing called the _Prime Directive_?” McCoy scoffs, from the other side of the table.

“Yeah, but-,” Kirk starts.

McCoy cuts him off, “Don’t even try. Pike would be ashamed of you.”

Kirk glares at the doctor. “Then what do you suggest?!”

“Maybe… try to blend in with the locals?” Scotty chimes in, “Like they taught us at the academy.”

Kirk sighs. “You realize we know nothing about this planet yet, right?”

“Couldn’t you send down one or two men to do a surface sweep?” Chekov asks, “They could go down for an hour and tell us what we need when we finally go in for the real rescue mission.”

The captain thinks for a moment, then grins. “Ensign Chekov, how would you like to be on that away team?”

Chekov grins. “I’d love to, sir.”

“Sulu, you go with him,” Kirk says, “I’ll have Darwin man the helm while you two are away. Scotty, do everything you can to help Sulu and Chekov on this mission. We don’t know if their communicators will work once they’re on the surface, so take extra precautions to get them home one their hour is up. Uhura, keep trying to reach the Farragut survivors. Leave no stone unturned. I need to have confirmation that they actually are on this planet. And finally, Bones, I need you in sick bay. We all know how dangerous uncharted planets can be.”

“Yes, sir,” answers a chorus of voices.

“We’ll meet here again in an hour. Dismissed.”

***

Back in the conference room, Kirk punches at the video comm on the table. “Kirk to Transporter Room.”

“Scott here,” a familiar brogue answers. “I’m sure the boys will be back soon.”

Kirk frowns. “It’s been over an hour, Scotty, where are they?”

Scotty punches at the transporter console, “I don’t know, Captain! I gave them subcutaneous transponders and a triangulation beacon and three other backups and so far, nothing. I can’t get them off the planet!”

“Try their beam-down point again in ten minutes - if they aren’t there I’m going down myself.”

“Aye, sir. Scott out.” the comm screen blinks off.

Ten minutes later, Kirk calls Scott again. This time, Chekov answers the call.

“Well??” Kirk asks, glaring daggers at the navigator.

“Sorry, Keptin,” Chekov says, pulling Sulu into frame. “We got lost, so it took us longer than we anticipated to get back to the designated beam-out point.”

“You got _that_ lost?”

“It’s just…” Sulu starts to explain, “There was this blizzard and-”

Uhura suddenly bursts out laughing, cutting Sulu off. She sobers up after a stern look from Kirk. “My visual said… sunny skies and about seventy degrees.”

Chekov elbows Sulu sharply in the side, “It’s the same kind of trees everywhere and there’s so little diversity in the flora and… we’re sorry.”

“But anyway,” Sulu says, finally stepping off the transporter platform and offering his PADD to the captain, “We have tons of intelligence for you.”

“Good,” Kirk responds, taking the tablet and quickly looking over the information. He hands the PADD back to Sulu and motions towards the door. “We’re all waiting for you.”

“Aye, sir.”

***

Back in the conference room, Chekov gestures to the conference room viewscreen, “This is the main willage. There are a series of small huts, mostly made of trees, leaves, and branches, with an occasional stone or two near the entrance. Wery primitive. We were able to avoid being seen by hiding behind that rock outcropping there,” he points to a spot nearby an outer hut, “I do not think we were seen by any of the area’s residents.”

“The whole town is centered around one bigger hut,” Sulu says, drawing a circle around the middle of the map with his finger, “We believe either the village elders or the chief live there. It’s definitely someone of high importance, given the intricate decoration and paintings on the sides of the lodging. We saw at least a dozen of the locals go into the hut, stay for a few minutes, then come out looking much happier than they did when they first went in.”

“What kind of decorations are there?” Uhura asks. “What are these paintings of?”

“That’s where it gets interesting,” Chekov answers, clicking the projector to the next slide - a close-up of the outside wall of the large hut. “The figure in the pictures we were able to make out from where we were concealing ourselves seemed humanoid, but different from the general population of the willage. Instead of being light colored with an intricate dark-colored hairdo, this painting depicted a dark green-skinned person with curly, flowing bright red hair. Like no one we saw on the planet.”

Uhura’s eyebrows shoot up. “Dark green… red hair…” she says, more to herself than her colleges. “Are you sure you never saw anyone matching that description?”

“Positive,” Chekov answers. “But then again, we only saw about fifteen people while we were there. It doesn’t appear to be a particularly sizable community.”

Uhura responds only by nodding, her mouth suddenly gone dry. She relaxes somewhat when Scotty interlaces his fingers with hers under the table.

“That’s all good intel,” Kirk says abruptly, taking the crew’s eyes off Uhura, “But this isn’t exactly what we sent you down there for. What about the local garb?”

“We were just getting to that,” Sulu says. He glances at Chekov, smirking. “Can I tell him?”

Chekov nods. “Go ahead.”

Sulu clicks the screen to the next slide. The picture shows a light yellow humanoid wearing nothing but a breechcloth. Everyone in the room except Kirk inhales sharply.

“This being appeared to be the equivalent of a male of the species,” Sulu explains.

He clicks to the next photo, which is identical in shape to the first except the way the alien wears their hair and their skin color. This one is light blue. “This seems to be the equivalent of a female.”

He clicks once more. “Judging by the hair and light green skin color, this alien appears between male and female.” And again. “This red individual is neither.”

Sulu turns off the projector and stifles a laugh, looking around at the other officers’ surprised faces. The room falls silent.

After a beat, Kirk stands up. “So who wants to beam down with me?”

The others glance at each other, then at the captain, then one by one they stand up to join Kirk. First Sulu, then Chekov, then Scotty, then Uhura, then finally Spock, after a brief but effective glare from Uhura. Only McCoy stays in his seat.

“You don’t want to come along, Bones?” Kirk asks, “You know it gets boring up on this ship, all alone.”

“I think I’ll be ok up here,” the doctor answers. “Besides, who else will be willing to deal with you when you come back with poisonous plants stuck to your ass?”

Kirk scoffs, “You just don’t want to be naked with the rest of us, ya big baby.”

McCoy shakes his head. “Jim, I’m a doctor and a trained away team leader. There’s nothing I haven’t seen or done before.”

Kirk rolls his eyes. “Fine, fine. We’ll leave you behind. Just don’t come crying to me when you miss all the fun.”

“Anyway,” the captain says, turning his attention from McCoy and addressing the rest of the away team, “Let’s go get our outfits! I’ll see you all in sickbay in fifteen minutes.” Everyone but McCoy stands up in unison and leaves the room together, careful not to say anything that could accidentally be overheard by those not part of the away team.

“Sickbay… Why did it have to be sickbay?” Uhura hears the doctor grumble at the doors slide closed behind her.

***

Sickbay falls silent when Uhura strolls in to join the rest of the crew, wearing nothing but a breechcloth, her long hair pulled up in an intricately braided bun. Everyone facing the doorway gapes at her - including security, nurses, and medical techs. She responds by twirling around, the cloth fluttering above her legs.

“It’s freeing, don’t you think?” she asks rhetorically, walking to join the crew beside the central biobed.

“Holy sh…” Kirk trails off. He pokes Scotty to get his attention. “Look at her. She’s… she’s…” the captain stops talking and instead points at his communications officer.

Scotty turns around and stares at Uhura. His face flushes pink and he looks away, incapable of meeting her eyes. “Lassie, you look gorgeous.”

Uhura grins at him. “Don’t I, though?”

A silence lingers for a moment until Kirk claps his hands together.

“Alright, gang, here’s what needs to happen. Obviously we aren’t the same color as this species, with the exception of Spock of course, so we need to fix this before we head down to the planet.” He glares at the doctor. “The _Prime Directive_ and all that.”

“You know I’m right, Jim,” McCoy calls back to the captain.

Kirk responds with a smirk. “You know what, I think I’ll let McCoy explain how we’re going to fix this skin issue. It was _his_ idea, after all.”

McCoy sighs in resignation. “Yeah, fine, I’ll do it. Everyone come over here.” He walks to a table loaded with a number of small beakers, all filled with gelatinous liquid in four different colors, and half a dozen bottles of distilled water.

“Simply put, this is skin stain. Rub it into your skin, leave it for a few minutes, then wash it off with distilled water. The colors are as follows: yellow indicates male, blue indicates female, green is a mix of the two, and red is neither. Feel free to mix and match colors as necessary, and be careful not to smear it on too thick. A little of this stuff goes a long way. Any questions?”

“So we have to… rub this on ourselves?” Kirk asks. “What about those spots that I just… can’t reach?”

“Then I suppose you’ll have to get someone _else_ to do it for you,” the doctor scoffs. “I’m sure you’ll have no trouble with that.”

He looks around the room at the barely-dressed officers and dramatically rolls his eyes. “In the meantime, I’ll be in my office if anyone needs me.” Before Jim can respond he briskly walks away, the doors to his office whooshing shut behind him.

Kirk turns to face his science officer. “Hey, Spock, you want to help me lube up? I’ll return the favor.”

Spock glances at Uhura before replying, his cheeks glowing light green. “I have no use for this lubrication procedure as my skin is already a fitting color. But I would not be averse to aiding you.”

Kirk grins. “Grab the green, we’ve got work to do.” Spock follows his instructions and the two men head off to a more secluded area of sickbay. Sulu and Chekov follow suit, taking the red and yellow dye, respectively.

“It’s about time,” Uhura murmurs under her breath.

“What’s that?” Scotty asks.

“I was just thinking,” Uhura says innocently, beginning to rub blue dye into her stomach and chest. “I might have some trouble getting this onto my face, ears, and upper back.”

“I could…” Scotty responds hesitantly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “Or maybe Nurse Chapel might-”

“No no,” Uhura interrupts him, placing her clean hand on the scot’s shoulder and looking him square in the eye, “I’d prefer if you did it. Please?”

Scotty smiles sweetly at her. “Anything for you, lass. Holler when you need me.”

“I’ll be sure to,” Uhura says, working the dye up her chest to her neck. Scotty has to physically turn away to tear his eyes off her and start working on his own yellow stain.

Uhura stifles a laugh as Kirk’s voice echoes across the room. “Are you sure you don’t want any dye, Spock? Your skin isn’t _quite_ the right color. Almost, but it could always be more accurate.”

“I assure you I am fine the way I am, Captain.”

“No, you’re really not.” Kirk pokes his head into McCoy’s office. “Oh, Nurse Chapel, I didn’t expect you to be here. Can you settle a quick disagreement?”

“Of course, sir,” Chapel says, stepping out of the office. Her eyes scan the room and land on the mostly-naked science officer standing beside Kirk. “What can I do for you?”

“We just finished getting my green skin stain rubbed in,” Kirk explains, smiling broadly at the nurse, “And since we have some time on our hands I figured we should make Spock look more like a local too. See, I believe his skin isn’t yellow-y enough to be seen as a normal male by the Gamma Vega species, but he is under the impression that he is, and I quote, ‘fine the way he is.’ What I need from you, nurse, is an impartial judgement as to who is correct.”

“I’m not sure.” Chapel pauses. “Mister Spock, would you please spin around? I need to see your entire body before I make a final judgement.” Spock nods and complies with the request.

Kirk’s smile falls to a frown as he hears Chapel’s breath hitch halfway through Spock’s spin. Once Spock faces her again, Kirk’s hand inadvertently flies out to touch his arm. Spock’s only reaction is a slight flinch, but he leaves the captain’s hand where it is. Chapel immediately takes a step back and folds her arms behind her back, locking eyes with Kirk.

“I think Spock needs more color,” Chapel finally decides.

Kirk’s smile brightens again. “My thoughts exactly.” He looks away from the nurse and back to his first officer.

“Looks like we have to do this now, Spock. Doctor’s orders. Wait here - I’ll go get the yellow gel.” The captain walks across the room to the table near main sickbay doors.

“How’s it going, you two?” Kirk asks Uhura, after getting the yellow dye for Spock. He chuckles when she and Scotty both startle at his voice. Uhura’s eyes fly open in alarm and Scotty hurriedly pulls his hands away from her back, letting his arms promptly fall to his sides.

“We’ve just finished the initial staining process, Captain,” Uhura answers softly.

“Yes, sir,” Scotty replies, voice slightly hoarse. “That we have.”

“Glad to hear it,” Kirk says, “The rest of us are almost done too. We’ll meet on the medical transport pad in ten minutes.” The captain smirks as he walks back to the other side of the room.

“You ok, lassie?” Scotty asks, once Kirk is out of earshot.

“I will be,” Uhura answers, looking away from Kirk and taking Scotty’s hand. “Ready for phase two?”

Scotty grins. “Aye.”

***


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flower crowns and an alien forest make-out session

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're sorry for the crazy sporadic posts yada yada school is taking up too much time yada yada break is soon so that might help things be posted more regularly yada yada enjoy this nonsense :)

The crew materializes on the planet in a haze of light.  A decorative hut looms large in the distance.

“I take it that’s the big house you mentioned?” Kirk asks Sulu and Chekov.

“Aye, sir,” Sulu responds, “Check out the markings on the wall. They seem important.” He hands the captain a set of binoculars.

Kirk takes a quick look then turns back to his team. “Agreed. Let’s head over there then!” He, Sulu, Scotty, and Uhura, start walking toward the village.

“You coming, guys?” Kirk calls out a moment later, realizing two of his crew aren’t following.

“I am worried…” Spock starts to explain, then trails off.

“We don’t think the locals vill take kindly to Spock’s… shall we say, interesting facial structure,” Chekov butts in.

Kirk nods in recognition. “Oh, right. I almost forgot. How are we going to fix that?”

“There’s plenty of flora around!” Uhura chimes in. “Who here knows how to make a flower crown?”

Kirk grins, turning to Spock. “Any color preferences or will this thing end up rainbow?”

“It is highly illogical to have a particular preference for any one color, Captain.  Given that this mission is of the utmost importance, I do not see any value in wasting time finding any particular color,” Spock says.

“I was thinking rainbow, myself,” Uhura muses, exchanging a look with Scotty. The man rolls his eyes, but ultimately concedes the point.

“Aye. Definitely rainbow, Captain.”

“Great.  Rainbow it is, then!” Kirk says brightly. “Now fan out. We need as many different colors as possible.”

“Yes, sir,” the team calls, already spreading out around the forest. They reconvene a few minutes later, all carrying various types of flora.

“Dump it here,” Kirk instructs, pointing to a mostly cleared spot on the ground. “I’ll have this thing made in a few minutes. In the meantime, the rest of you should do more research on this group. Spock, I need you here to measure your head.” The crew nods, and everyone but the captain and science officer start towards the village. Uhura gives them a pointed look then turns and keeps walking. She and Scotty lag slightly behind Chekov and Sulu.

“Do you think this will help them?” Scotty asks Uhura.

“It won’t hurt,” Uhura replies, laughing, “If they’re not at least a bit more comfortable around each other after this mission I don’t know what more I can do”

Scotty nods in response. “I certainly hope you’re right about this, lassie. I don’t know how much more of their dancing around each other I can take.” Uhura nods knowingly, taking Scotty’s hand. The two lapse into silence, continuing to follow Chekov at a short distance. Uhura clears her throat after a few minutes.

“You know,” she says softly, “We’re practically alone out here.”

Scotty frowns slightly, “The captain and Spock are just a few minutes away. And Sulu and Chekov are right there.” He points ahead to what appears to be an empty clearing. “Well they were there, anyway…” Scotty runs ahead a few yards then stops, slowly spinning around in place.

Uhura runs up to him and grins, grabbing Scotty’s shoulder and gently pushing him towards a denser part of the forest, “Then we have some time to ourselves.”

“Are- are you suggesting…” Scotty stutters, letting himself be pulled closer to Uhura.

Uhura rests her back against a smooth tree and tugs the Scot towards her until their chests touch. She takes one of his hands and places it on her waist. “I believe I am.” Scotty’s worried look is replaced with a broad smile as he leans in to capture her lips with his.

***

“Scotttyyy!” A deep voice cuts through the silence of the forest. “Uhuraaaa!”

Scotty pulls away from Uhura just as Sulu comes crashing out of the bushes behind him. He quickly wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and takes a few deep breaths.

Uhura pushes away from the tree and hastily brushes her fingers through her hair. “What is it, Sulu?” She asks nonchalantly.

“We’ve been looking for you for fifteen minutes!” Sulu says. “Where have you two been?”

“We’ve been…” Scotty begins, cheeks flushing red.

“Oh,” Sulu sighs. “Well if you don’t want Kirk to find out you’d better come with me.”

“Did you find something?” Uhura asks.

“We now know how to get over to the main hut in the village,” Sulu explains. “It’s a bit further than we expected and Chekov _may_ have gotten us a bit lost again.”

Uhura bursts out laughing. “Again?! You guys are our official navigator and pilot and you’re telling me you _both_ get lost in two-space?”

“Maybe,” Sulu concedes. “But that’s not important right now. Kirk and Spock are on their way, so we have to go. I told them we’d meet them at the edge of the forest in five minutes.”

“I understand,” Uhura says. Sulu turns and starts to walk out of the clearing. Uhura takes Scotty’s hand and follows the pilot.

***

“So,” Kirk says, once the whole group reconvenes, “Anything exciting happen while Spock and I were away?”

“Nothing of note, sir,” Sulu says, deliberately looking anywhere but at Scotty and Uhura.

“Good. Now we can make our way to the building.”

The captain turns to Chekov. “Is there anything we should know before heading down?”

“I performed a few more long-range scans,” the ensign says, “The natives seem much more wicious than they did the last time Sulu and I were here.”

“Vicious how?” Kirk asks.

“It seems anyone the willagers have a problem with gets brought, against their will, to this giant green tent behind the main hut.”

“Against their will?” Uhura asks.

“Kicking and screaming,” Sulu says. “It’s not pretty.”

“How could we get around that?” Kirk asks the group.

“Fake it ‘til you make it,” Scotty suggests. “We go into the big hut and pretend we’re part of the group. If it doesn’t work then at least we can see how the village functions around outsiders.”

“That could give us some insight as to whether the Farragut crew is still around,” Uhura chimes in.

“Then that’s the plan,” Kirk agrees. “Let’s do this.”

***

It takes approximately twenty minutes to reach the center of the village. Kirk stands at the front door to the hut.

“Are you ready?” he asks in a whisper, eyes narrowing to peer through the crack between the door and the hut wall.

“As ready as we’ll ever be, Captain,” Sulu answers. The rest of the away team nods in agreement.

“Ok, here we go.” Kirk pushes open the door and the team steps into the hut. The room is filled with treasures - colorful tapestries and sculptures surrounding a large empty seat guarded by a large group of heavily armed green-skinned aliens.

The alien closest to the front door points at them and looks over to the other guards, eyes widening. The others shake their heads, seemingly in agreement. Before the team has any time to react, the guards rush forward and forcefully grab each crew member by their arms.

“It seems I was wrong,” Kirk quips. “Just do what they ask.”

The guard holding Kirk smacks him with the back of their hand and the captain falls quiet. The crew is dragged out the back door of the hut and into the tent a few yards away.

***


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guess who??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yooooooo double update today since we haven't updated in forever! :D

They’re thrown unceremoniously into the tall green tent.  In the tent is a large platform that fills up the entire room.  A large throne type object sits at the center of the podium.  And in that throne… sits a beautiful woman with dark green skin and curly orange hair.

No.  It can’t be.

The alien holding Kirk at the front of the group thrusts Kirk onto his knees, then prostrates himself.  Each of the aliens holding each other crew member does the same.  Uhura is shoved unceremoniously to the floor.

“My friends, who have you brought here?” a female voice asks.

Uhura raises her head up, just a few inches.  She _knows_ that voice.  She’s woken up to that voice telling her to ‘get your ass moving before you’re late for class’ more times than she’s cared to count after pulling all nighters studying.

“Gaila?” she whispers.

The aliens chitter and click.  Uhura is torn between trying to decipher each phoneme - _how do they even make that wide of a variety of sounds?_ \- and wondering at Gaila.  Because that’s definitely, unmistakably Gaila.

Kirk looks back at her, eyes wide with excitement.  “We’ve found them,” he mouths.

The lead alien bows and rocks his body.  He clicks several times.

Hmmm.  Experimentally, Uhura vocalizes three clicks herself - alveolar, bilabial, and then another alveolar.

Three of the aliens round on her and point their spears at her.  One pushes her head down with the spear so she can’t continue to gawk at Gaila.

“Uhura, what did you just do?” Kirk hisses.

“I don’t know what I said!” Uhura whispers back.

“Something very naughty,” Gaila says.  Uhura dares to look up again,  Gaila has moved from the podium, and is walking down the steps.  “Surely, you know better than to insult the family lines of your captors.”  Gaila pushes a few buttons at something on her wrist, and a series of beeps issues from some kind of speaker.  There’s a sudden lift of pressure, and all of the aliens crawl away, leaving the tent.

Uhura feels something lift at her ams.  She looks up, to see Gaila help her to her feet.  Gaila gives her the full body examination.  “Girl, you are looking good in that outfit.  Seriously, if you ever give up on Commander Spocko, I wouldn’t say no.”

Uhura gulps.  “Um.  Hi Gaila.”  Because as she is finally at full height, level with Gaila, she notices something very significant.  The natives don’t wear much by way of clothing.  Gaila is wearing… even less.

“So tell me, what are you doing out here?” Gaila says, almost conversationally.  Forget that they were nearly just killed by natives just a few short minutes ago.

“Rescuing you, of course,” Uhura says.  Her brain has officially registered ‘no clothes’, which isn’t exactly an unusual state for Gaila to be in.  Gaila didn’t believe in clothes, back at the Academy.  ‘The uniforms are just so restricting,’ she had whined, on more than one occasion before unceremoniously schucking clothes on the floor.  

“Rescuing me?  Do I look like I need to be rescued?” Gaila demands.  “I’m a goddess in my own right here.”

“Uhhhh…” Kirk groans.  “Am I allowed to stand up yet?”

Gaila smiles brightly.  “No.  I rather like you lot right where you are - on your knees, in front of me.”

“Is this revenge for me using you to cheat on the Kobayashi Maru?” Kirk asks.

Gaila just chuckles.  She turns to Scotty, and pulls him up.  “Hmmm.  He’s cute.  Haven’t seen you around before in Starfleet.”

Scotty gawks at her.  Abruptly, he turns to Uhura, and widens his eyes.

“He’s also taken,” Uhura says quickly.  She reaches out and grabs Scotty’s hand.

Gaila pouts.  “I never figured you to be such a straight little stick.”  Uhura can feel her cheeks burn.  “Mmmh.  At least you stopped pining after Commander Pointy Ears.”  She walks around and helps Sulu and Chekov up.  Sulu stares at Gaila for a few seconds, before professionally and politely looking at her face.  Chekov turns bright red and stares at the ground.

Spock is next.  He doesn’t stare at Gaila - staring would be un-Vulcan-like.  “Might I ask, Cadet, what you happen to be doing?  You seem to have an amazing lack of regard for the sanctity of the Prime Directive..”

“Blah, blah, blah,” Gaila says.  She puts a finger over his lips.  “They think I’m a goddess.  We weren’t going to let ourselves be seen by the natives, of course.  We were just going to hide it out, like good Starfleet Officers.   _Nevermind_ that most of us are still cadets, _Commander_.  And yet, we still have to eat.  We still have basic necessities.  So we started sneaking out of the pods in shifts to get food.  I got caught, and they bowed before me in worship.”

“Others?  Who else survived?” Kirk asks, voice still muffled against the floor.

Gaila pulls him up.  “Hey there Jim-boy.  They didn’t kick you out of Starfleet, then?  Look,  I’ve been sneaking supplies and food back to the rest of the survivors every couple of nights.  You can pick them up and take them back with you.  But newsflash?  I’m not leaving.  They _worship_ me here.”

“Cadet, that is against the Prime Directive…” Spock tries to say.

“Prime Directive, _Shrime_ Directive,” Gaila says dismissively.  “I’m not harming anyone, really.  What’s wrong with a little worship?”

“You are interfering with…”

“No, I’m not.  They already had legends of a green goddess.  The goddess of fertility.  It’s a good life, here.  I’m very fertile, right, Jimbo?”  Gaila winks at Jim.  Obliging, Jim leers back at her.

Spock actually snarls.  “You will come back with us, Cadet, or face consequences,” Spock hisses.

“Um… Spock… isn’t that my job, as Captain?” Kirk asks, uncertainly.

“Then do your job, Captain,” Spock says, laying a possessive arm on Kirk’s shoulder.

Gaila’s eyes widen.  “Wow.”

“Wow what?” Sulu asks, who’d been quiet all this time.

Gaila moves just a little bit closer to the rest of the crew, and lowers his voice.  “Anyone else noticing all the unresolved tension here?”

Uhura rolls her eyes.  “Welcome to my nightmare.”

Gaila turns to address Spock.  “Look, you really have no jurisdiction over me.  I can stay if I want to - I will leave you all behind.  If I say so, the village will turn against you, and go to war.  It doesn’t matter what your precious Prime Directive says.  But come now.  Why be grumpy and miserable when you could just give into the inevitable?”

“We don’t have to discuss that quite yet.  Will you show us to the other survivors?” Jim asks.

Gaila smiles brightly at them.  “Of course.”

***

That night, Gaila leads them to the rest of the Farragut’s survivors.  She leads the group far off into the woods, away from the village.  They tramp through the wild for almost a half an hour by Uhura’s count, before arriving at several metallic pods clustered together.  

“Hey guys!  I’m back!  And this time, I’ve brought a surprise!” Gaila says suddenly.  

The pods suddenly swarm to life.  Several beings walk out of the pods, each one wearing a Starfleet uniform.  A couple of them come over to meet Gaila.  The rest gawk at the party.  Uhura begins to feel a little self conscious.  She’s just a little too aware of the fact that she’s wearing practically nothing, with her skin dyed blue.  

“Ensign, why did you bring natives back here?” one of the women asks.  She’s clearly an authority figure of some kind.

“They’re not natives, Commander Chenowyth.  This is the command crew of the USS Enterprise,” Gaila says brightly.

Commander Chenowyth gives the group a once over.  “Huh.  A bit young, aren’t you all?”

“Actually, Commander… I don’t know how much news you’re able to keep up with, out here, but we’re kind of all that Starfleet has at the moment,” Kirk says, stepping forward.  “I’m Captain James T Kirk.”

“Kirk, eh?  What happened to Captain Pike?” Commander Chenowyth asks.  “And weren’t you on academic probation?”

“I have retracted my accusations in light of recent events,” Spock says from behind him.  “Admiral Pike has received a promotion, despite the loss of his legs.”

“What?” Someone from behind Commander Chenowyth asks.

Uhura sighs.  She has half a mind to kick Spock, but that would be unprofessional.  “What do you know?” she asks.  Commander Chenowyth turns to look at her.  “Lieutenant Nyota Uhura,” she adds, in response to the unasked question.  

“Not much, unfortunately,” Commander Chenowyth says.  “We arrived at Vulcan, only to be greeted by a huge ship, the likes of which we’d never seen before.  It attacked us.  The ship exploded.  About 150 of us made it to the escape pods and on planet.  Captain Rabin went down with the ship, trying to buy us all enough time to escape, and making the ship more of a target than the escape pods were.  We landed here after a little while.  There was a huge explosion in the sky.  We have no idea what it was - our communications devices are all completely shot.”

“That ship, the Romulan ship, destroyed Vulcan,” Kirk says.  The ensign behind Commander Chenowyth gasps.  

“How?” Commander Chenowyth demands.

 “The Romulans extended a drill into the planet, drilled to a certain minimum depth, and ejected antimatter into the planetary core,” Spock says dispassionately, as if it wasn’t his home planet and mother that were destroyed.

All of the surrounding officers continue to look horrified.

“We’ll catch you back up to speed once we evacuate the planet,” Kirk promises.

*******


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> GET READY FOR MORE GAY

Uhura flips open her communicator, “Uhura to Sickbay.”

“Sickbay. McCoy here.”

“Emergency medical protocols - dozens of wounded survivors - most critical to be beamed up first.”

“Understood. Standby.” Uhura hears McCoy call out the code to his nurses. “We’re ready up here. You can start beaming to emergency medbay when you’re ready.” Uhura shuts her communicator and relays the doctor’s message to Kirk and Commander Chenowyth.

“Let’s go six at a time,” the captain says. “Start with those who can’t walk - deep cuts and major infections. Then move on to broken bones and minor lacerations. Then send up the rest.”

He turns to Chenowyth, “You know your crew’s status better than I do. Can you coordinate?”

“Aye, sir,” Chenowyth replies, turning to point at the Farragut crew. “Drake, Morgan, get Leigh and Kegin from the medical pod. They’re going up first. Any non-medical officers left in the pod are going up to the ship next. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Drake and Morgan say, running off towards the med pod. They return a moment later, each supporting a limping officer.

“Can you stand on your own for a few seconds?” Uhura asks. Both officers shake their heads. “Okay, then let’s find somebody to beam up with you.”

“Lieutenant Drake,” Uhura says, pointing to the main currently holding up Ensign Leigh. “Can you find other less wounded officers to prop these two up?”

“Easily,” Drake replies. He calls out two names, and four officers appear - two being carried by the named officers. “You’re going up to the Enterprise. Yes, now. Stand over there.” He points to a clearing in the center of the group of pods. Once the officers reach the designated spot, Drake nods to Uhura.

She flips her communicator open again. “Uhura to Sickbay. We’re ready. Six to beam up.” The wounded officers disappear in a haze of light. “Who’s next?”

This process goes on for nearly an hour, until the only people left on the surface are Kirk’s away team, Gaila, and Chenowyth.

“Scotty, Sulu, Chekov,” Kirk says, “I need you to help coordinate quarter assignments on the ship. Spock, Uhura, and I will make the final arrangements here.” The officers agree and head to the beam-out point. As soon as they disappear Kirk turns to Gaila.

“Now what are we going to do about you?” he asks.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gaila replies. “I thought the answer was obvious.”

“Obvious?” Kirk says.

“I think she means she wants to stay here, Captain,” Uhura explains.

Gaila nods. “Without me this society would crumble.” Spock’s brow furrows slightly. “I have become part of this group, sir. Please don’t make me leave.”

“You do realize this violates the prime directive, do you not?” Spock says.

“I realize that,” Gaila replies. “But honestly, how much worse could it get?”

“She has a point,” Kirk says. “But the rules still say you have to be court-martialed.”

“Not if I resign my commission,” Gaila says quickly. “I could even cite Regulation 619, if need be.”

“You’ve been planning this all along, haven’t you?” Uhura groans. “I always knew you’d let power change you.”

“It’s not just power,” Gaila explains. “I told you before. I’m a  _ goddess _ here. People see me as more than my Orion heritage here. More than just my skin. They aren’t all convinced I’m some kind of  _ sex god _ that’s just here to pleasure them. Though I will admit much of that stereotype is actually true,” She winks at Kirk, but then falls serious again. “This is what I’ve always wanted.”

“She has a point, sir,” Uhura tells Kirk. “If she is no longer Starfleet there is nothing we can do.”

Kirk still looks apprehensive. “You’re absolutely sure you want us to leave you here?”

“Positive, Captain,” Gaila says. “Though I wouldn’t mind a visit every now and then.”

Kirk smiles sadly, “I’m sure we can manage that. In the meantime, is there anything we can leave you to make your life here more manageable?”

“I can get everything I’ll ever need from the natives,” Gaila replies. “All I want from you all is a kiss goodbye.” Spock shifts uncomfortably beside the captain.

“Don’t worry, I have something special planned for you,” Gaila assures him, grinning slyly, then makes her way over to her now-former commander.

“Art Chenowyth,” she says, “It has been a pleasure serving with you. I hope you get the Captaincy someday. After all you’ve done for us, you deserve it.” Gaila leans in toward the commander and lightly presses their lips together. “I’ll miss you.”

She moves on to Kirk. “Jim Kirk. We had a lot of fun at the academy. Though I don’t know if I’ll ever fully forgive you for that stunt you pulled.”

Kirk chuckles, “Which stunt would that be?”

Gaila giggles in response, “Exactly.” She grabs the captain’s neck and gently tugs him forward until their mouths meet. “I still love you.”

“That is so weird,” Kirk replies, grinning.

Gaila smacks him lightly, then kisses his cheek again. “I’ll miss you too.”

Next up is Spock. Instead of pulling him close, Gaila hold out her right hand, held in a fist with two fingers extended. Spock raises an eyebrow but reaches up with own hand to press their fingers together. Kirk’s eyes widen at the exchange, and he looks away, ducking his head.

Gaila tentatively strokes her two fingers across his before drawing them away. She lowers her voice, “I don’t know you well, Commander Spock, but I’d trust you with my life. You would make a great Captain, if you could ever let yourself be without Jim.”

Spock blinks rapidly, glancing at Kirk, then regains his composure. He clears his throat before responding. “Thank you.”

Gaila finally steps up to Uhura. The two throw their arms around each other and stand there like that for what could be minutes or hours.

“Nyota Uhura. You were a terrible roommate, you know,” Gaila says, voice cracking.

“You weren’t much better yourself,” Uhura replies, her voice also wavering. She waits a beat. “You’re really sure this is a good idea?”

Gaila pulls back from the hug, still holding onto Uhura’s hands. “This is the most sure I’ve ever been about anything in my life.”

“I had to make sure you’ve thought this through,” Uhura says, pulling one hand away to wipe tears out of her eyes. “I know cadets can be impulsive, Miss I-hide-guys-under-my-bed-every-other-day.”

Gaila smiles at that. “You’ve got a point there, but this is where I need to be.” She moves her hands from Uhura’s and brings them up to her friend’s neck. “I’m so sorry.”

“I know.” Uhura lets herself be pulled into Gaila’s space. Gaila closes the distance and kisses her friend. The kiss is delicate and chaste at first, then becomes more heated after a moment.

The two women are crying softly as they pull away. Another long hug later, Gaila is able to turn away and wave to the rest of the officers as she walks back to the village.

Kirk walks over to Uhura and places a hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”

Uhura turns around to bury her face in his neck. “No. But I will be.” Kirk nods, and rubs circles into her back. She pulls back a few inches and wipes at her eyes again. “We should head back up to the ship.”

“Agreed.” Kirk signals Spock and Chenowyth. He hails the transporter room and the group dematerializes.

***

It’s time.  It’s beyond time.  Spock’s had his chance to do things his way, and now Uhura plans to make good on her threat.  Once Uhura is back in her uniform, and feeling more like herself, she goes looking for Kirk.

She finds him brooding in sickbay.  “Captain?” Uhura asks.

“What’s up Uhura?” Kirk asks.  “Come to yell at me?”

“Ummm… no, sir?” Uhura asks.  “Why would I yell at you?”

“It just seems to be a common theme, currently,” Kirk says.  “Come on.  Walk with me.”  The two of them walk out of Sickbay, heading towards one of the observations bays.  Neither of them speaks until they arrive.

“Who’s been yelling at you?” Uhura asks.

Kirk shrugs.  “Bones, of course.  But that’s nothing unusual.  Spock, too.  But I suppose that’s to be expected as well.  I suppose he blames me for allowing Gaila to stay behind.  It’s not like any of us were successful at getting her to stay with Starfleet.”

“That’s ridiculous that Spock expects you to do something he himself was unable to accomplish,” Uhura seethes.  “What does he think he’s doing?”

“I wish I knew,” Kirk mutters sadly.  “Anyways.  What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Well, actually… it’s about Spock,” Uhura says darkly.  “Permission to speak freely, sir?”

“So formal all of the sudden?” Kirk asks.  “We’re all friends here… Nyota.”

Uhura rolls her eyes, but lets the use of her first name pass.  “Look.  Jim,” she says, replying in kind.  “I’m not really sure what the best way to tell you this is.  I gave Spock the time to do this himself, but if he won’t, then I will.”

“Tell me what, Uhura?” Kirk asks.

“Do you know what the Vulcan word ‘ _ t’hy’la _ ’ means?” Uhura asks.

“Um… no, not really.  My Vulcan is a bit rusty,” Kirk admits.  “And I don’t ever remember seeing that on a vocabulary list.”

“You wouldn’t.  Not in a lower-level class,” Uhura says.  “It’s a very specialized concept, and not one referred to often in Vulcan culture.  It’s both the idea of a person and person itself who is at once friend, brother, and lover to the speaker.”

“What does this have to do with Spock?” Kirk asks suspiciously.

“A few months ago - and I’m sure Spock can give you a precise count, if you’re interested - Spock discovered that  _ you _ are his  _ t’hy’la _ ,”  Uhura stops, and watches Kirk’s face go through several expressions, none of them pleasant.

“Why didn’t he tell me?” Kirk asks, settling on outrage.

Uhura rolls her eyes.  “He believes that by strangling you on the bridge, he has ‘sullied the bond’, and that you won’t want him anymore after he tried to kill you.”

“Sorry to burst his damn bubble, but that was actually kind of hot,” Kirk says.

“Tell him that, not me,” Uhura says.  She shudders.  “Not a mental image I needed.”  She mentally resolves to get back at Kirk for that one.  Maybe Scotty could help out with that.  He surely has a few ideas for some upstart Captains with no filters or boundaries.

“Don’t be such a prude,” Kirk leers.

“Call me crazy, but I never, ever, ever want to hear about the sex lives of my commanding officers,” Uhura mutters.  “Moving on, then.”

“So, let me get this straight,” Kirk says, blissfully moving away from this uncomfortable line of conversation.  “Spock is like… in love with me, but won’t do anything about it?”

“Right,” Uhura says.  “And if you’re getting things straight, I think you’re doing this wrong.”

“Can I hit him with a pan to set this all right?” Kirk asks with a smirk.

“Once again - your business, not mine,” Uhura says.

“Well.  I think I’ll… have a little chat with my First Officer, then,” Kirk says.  “Thanks for the tip, Uhura.”  He walks out of the room, a little jaunt in his step.  

Uhura snickers, and watches him go.  Then, she follows him.  Kirk practically runs into Spock,  He grabs Spock’s arm, and drags the Vulcan into a room.

Uhura grins widely.  Carefully, she locks the door from the outside, and settles in to wait.  She pulls up her PADD and hacks into the Enterprise mainframe again, searching for the proper cameras.

“Captain, I must object to your manhandling of my person,” Spock says, just as she finds the right channel.

“Fight me,” Kirk mutters.

“Please excuse me,” Spock says.  “I do not wish to engage in combat at this time.”  He tries the door.  Uhura is very glad that she managed to lock the door.  Spock glares at the handle.  “Odd,” he says.

Kirk pulls on Spock’s shoulder, forcing Spock to face him.  He pins Spock’s shoulders against the door.  “Why didn’t you tell me that were  _ t’hy’la _ ?” Kirk demands.

“How did you… Lieutenant Uhura,” Spock mutters.

“She did warn you,” Kirk says.  Clearly, he can’t help himself.  He pushes his face against Spock’s, kissing him none too gently.

There’s a moment where Uhura is sure that Spock is going to throw Kirk against the other wall,  _ t’hy’la _ or not.  But then, Spock grabs Kirk, and shifts their positions so that Kirk is now the one pushed against the wall.  The two start kissing as if the only oxygen in the room is in each other’s lungs.

Uhura smiles, and leaves them to it.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, so sorry for the crazy amount of time between chapters. school is exhausting.....


	12. Chapter 12

_ [30 DAYS LATER - ONE WEEK OUT FROM FEDERATION SPACEDOCK] _

“So.  Does anybody have any questions?” Kirk asks.

McCoy looks like he’s going to have an apoplectic fit.  “Let me get this straight, Jim.  After the absolute disaster of the away mission - and I’m sure you’re going to catch hell from the admirals for all of this - you’re going to dig yourself and all of us into deeper shit by LYING ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOU MORE OR LESS INSTALLED A FORMER STARFLEET CADET AS A GODDESS ON A PRE-WARP PLANET?” By the time he finishes, McCoy is shouting, gripping the table.

Uhura glances around the room.  Commander Chenowyth is smirking openly.  Admiral Pike is clearly trying to contain laughter.  Chekov and Scotty both seem to be trying to make themselves as small and inconspicuous as possible, while Sulu and Spock are maintaining a perfectly straight face.

“Well.  They don’t have to know Gaila is still a goddess figure,” Kirk says, leaning back in his chair.  “Ensign Vro was mistaken for a goddess, and was sacrificed so the natives could ‘return her to her celestial state’.”  He makes air quotes around the last part of the statement.  

“You damn fool!” McCoy explodes.  “You’ll get the whole lot of us court martialed!”

“Bones.  Relax!” Kirk says.  “The only people who know the truth are the people in this room and the survivors of the Farragut.  I’m sure Gaila’s shipmates will be reluctant to do anything to get her in trouble.”

“Damn straight they won’t,” Commander Chenowyth mutters.  “My people will keep their mouths shut if they know what’s good for them.”

Kirk smiles brightly at McCoy.  “See?  Problem solved!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Uhura sees Admiral Pike cover his mouth with a hand to hide the laughter threatening to break through.  

“Dammit, Jim!  They’re gonna know!” McCoy snaps.  

“How?” Kirk demands.

“They just  _ will _ !  They’re admirals!  They didn’t get that way by being the greenest rookies in the book! They know what they’re about, and the tricks of some wet behind the ears, brand new captain, barely even out of the academy are not going to work on them!”

“It seems to me, Doctor,” Spock offers slowly, “That the admirals are, as you would say, ‘only human’.  It is impossible for them to be completely infallible, and even more improbable that they are able to detect lies.  Furthermore, this particular lie has enough truth in it that it should ring true to the unknowing listener.”

“Now listen here you pointy eared hobgoblin…”

“Bones!” Kirk says sharply.

McCoy rolls his eyes.  “Why the hell are you suddenly defending Jimbo?  Were you not listening to the bit about lying to Starfleet?”

“The time to change this decision has come and past.  Given that we were unable to change Ensign Vro’s mind, the only thing to do now is to, as you would say, ‘cover our own asses’.”  Spock raises one eyebrow, and tilts his head to the right a few degrees.  Uhura recognizes it as his ‘don’t argue with me or I’ll vaporize you with logic’ look.

Kirk smirks.  “It’s surprising what a little bit of ‘forceful persuasion’ can do for even the most straight laced of Vulcans.”

Spock actually goes slightly green.  Uhura’s mind immediately makes the jump.  “Kirk.  Do us all a favor, and stop talking about your sex life in official meetings.”

Kirk leers at her.  “You said it, Lieutenant, not me.”

“Jim.  Get back to the point,” Pike says.  

Now it’s Kirk’s turn to roll his eyes.  “The point is that this is totally doable, if no one fucks it up.”

“Language,” Uhura chimes in.

Kirk licks his lips as he turns to look at her.  “Yeah, Spock tells me that too.”  He punctuates this remark with a wink.

Spock turns even greener.  “Kirk.  Shut up about your goddamn sex life and go back to your actual job, which you are paid to do,” Uhura suggests.  “That threat to write you up for sexual harassment is still totally valid.”

“I’m not harassing you,” Kirk says.

“No, but you’re harassing Spock, dating or not,” Uhura snaps.  Spock shoots her a grateful look - she deliberately avoided using the term  _ t’hy’la _ .  The odds that someone might know the word, while slim, are still possible.  “And while he might be too infatuated with you or threatened by you or whatever to write you up, I have no such problems.”

Scotty puts one hand on her leg.  “Lassie.  That’s enough.”

“Excuse me?  You think I’m threatening Spock?” Kirk asks.

“CHILDREN!  ENOUGH!” Pike thunders.  Everyone falls silent.  Now that he has everyone’s attention, Pike wheels back from the table, to roll in a semblance of pacing.  “First of all, Jim, this is almost the exact reason Starfleet has no fraternization regulations - particularly among the higher ranks.  Don’t make me regret turning a blind eye to this.

“Secondly, if you want to pull this off, you need to all be united in that single purpose.  If one person reports something off, the rest of the admirals will scent trouble like sharks in water,” Pike continues.

“Wait.  You actually plan to help with this?” Chekov inquires, who had been silent thus far.  

Pike stops his wheelchair in front of the kid.  “There comes many a time that a captain may wish to hide mission details from the rest of Starfleet.  I suppose it shouldn’t shock me that Jim has seen it fit to have this pivotal point in his career earlier, rather than later.  But I’d just as soon you lot went about this smartly.  As Commander Spock mentioned, the time for changing the decision is in the past.  There’s nothing to do but deal with the fallout, and I agree that this is the best way to do so.”

Kirk smirks again.  “Told you.”

“Now.  If you want this to work, here’s what you’ve got to do…” Pike instructs.

***

Uhura races after Spock after the meeting.  “Hey.  Hey!  Spock!” she says, when he doesn’t slow down upon seeing her.

“Please leave me alone,” Spock says stiffly.  He continues walking.

Uhura keeps pace with him.  “I just wanted to make sure you were alright, after that meeting.”  

Spock stops abruptly, and turns to stare at her. Uhura nearly runs into him, and jerks back as she too comes to a stop.  “Perhaps you further begin to understand why I was reluctant to speak to Jim about the matters we discussed.”  Without warning, Spock takes off again, turning on his heel.

“Spock, stop,” Uhura says.  She runs after him.  Spock keeps going, saying nothing.  Right outside Spock’s quarters, Uhura grabs his arm, preventing him from entering the room.  “You can’t possibly mean that.  He’s your  _ t’hy’la  _ \- whatever happens.”

Spock raises an eyebrow at her.  “I do not appreciate these intrusions into my private…”

“Spock.  We’re friends, aren't we?” Uhura asks.

Spock inclines his head.  “Yes.”

“Then listen to me.  As a friend, this was the best thing for you.  You’ve been so happy the past month,” Uhura says.  “That being said, if you want me to report him for sexual harassment, I will do so in a heartbeat.  Today was absolutely unacceptable.”

Spock hesitates.  “If the Captain was written up for harassment, the situation would have to be explained in full.  As much as I do not appreciate these references to my private life among friends, I find the prospect of my private life being investigated even more distasteful.”

Uhura’s mind is working overtime.  “What if… we could get even with him?”

“I do not understand your meaning.”

“Maybe… we should take it upon ourselves to teach Kirk a lesson,” Uhura says.  “I bet Monty has some ideas.”

“Nyota, please.  Do not cause yourself trouble for my sake,” Spock says.

“Oh no.  I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.  It’s really no trouble, none at all.  We’re friends after all, aren’t we?”  Uhura gives Spock a very serious look.  “I think whatever Monty and I do, you’ll know.  Make sure Kirk has to deal with it.  And Spock -  _ do not _ have sex with him until then.  Trust me.  That will probably be the worst punishment for him.”

Spock stares at her with unblinking eyes.  Finally, he inclines his head.  “Nyota…”

“Spock.  Trust me.  If you want the lesson to stick, keep him wanting,” Uhura says sternly.  

“I thank you for your counsel, Nyota,” Spock says.  His lips curl up in the barest of smiles.

***

“Hey Monty?”

“Yes, lassie?” Scotty asks, set on guard by her tone of voice.

“Do you have any ways to effectively... prank our captain?” Uhura asks sweetly.

Scotty chuckles.  “Aye.  I do at that.”

“It has to be sure to affect him, and only him,” Uhura warns him.

The engineer’s chuckle grows darker.  “I think something can be arranged.”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's looking like we have about 2 chapters left, but we're getting close to the end here!!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scotty makes a point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The final stretch!

Lieutenant Hendorff gestures at the turbolift. “Captain? You coming with?”

The bridge is dead silent.  Kirk looks around helplessly.  “Anyone?  Please?”

Spock stares at him, implacable.  “He's your genius.   You deal with him.”

Kirk looks at Uhura pleadingly.  Uhura smirks.  “What makes you think I want to change this?” she asks.

Kirk rolls his eyes.  “Fine.  I suppose I’m the only one who cares about crew morale around here.  Spock, you have the conn.”  He gets up with a huff, and follows Hendorff into the lift.

He leaves, and the lift indicates the shift to lower decks.  Immediately, the bridge breaks out into laughter.

“The traditional way?  What does wearing a kilt the traditional way mean?” Chekov asks, amid the gales of laughter.

Uhura smirks.  “Nothing underneath.  Just you and the breeze.”  The laughter doubles. When the laughter finally dies down, Uhura leaves her seat and heads to the turbolift. “Who else wants to see Kirk’s brain explode?”

A chorus of “I do!” follows her question as Sulu and Chekov follow her into the lift. The doors whoosh closed and Uhura giggles under her breath.

“This is gonna be so much fun.”

***

“Scotty.  Please.  I’m begging you,” Uhura hears Kirk plead.  “Please, for the love of God, get down from there.”

“I’m a wee bit busy, Captain,” Scotty drawls.  Uhura peeks around the corner, to see Kirk, with his back to them, staring up at Scotty, who’s perched up on one of the upper walkways near the engine.  “I’ve a few regular maintenance checks to do on our silver lassie.”

Behind her, she hears Sulu choke.  “You weren’t kidding about that ‘traditional way’, were you?”

Chekov’s eyes are wide.  “This is nothing.  Back in Russia, many full grown adults go out into the snow wearing less than zat.”

Sulu snorts.  “I’ve stopped accepting anything you say about Russia at face value.”

“Hush,” Uhura says sternly.  “I’m enjoying the spectacle.”

“General maintenance is all very good and well, but can’t you wear pants to do it?” Kirk asks.

“Nae, lad.  This is the most comfortable way for this kind of work.  I need to be able to fully feel the ship and what she wants,” Scotty says.

This time, it’s Chekov’s turn to choke.  “Feel the ship?”

Uhura smirks at the two of them.  “You wouldn’t even believe.”

“Scotty.  You’re scandalizing your staff!” Kirk shouts.

“You mean, like you scandalized Spock at the other day’s meeting?” Scotty asks, rather pointedly.

Uhura wishes she could see Kirk’s face.  “Is that what this is about?” Kirk asks.  Uhura rather fancies that he actually sounds dejected.  

Sulu and Chekov both poke her aggressively.  Uhura ignores them.  Scotty swings down to Kirk’s level, giving everyone a bit of an eyeful.  “Next time you decide to indulge your exhibitionist kink,  _ Captain _ , maybe check your partner is also alright with it,” Scotty admonishes.

Kirk runs his hands through his hair.  “Will you please put some pants on?”

Scotty raises a single eyebrow, imitating Spock.  “Have I made my point?”

Kirk sighs.  “You have.”

Uhura pulls on Sulu and Chekov’s arms.  “Come on.  We’ve better get up to the bridge before Kirk does,” she hisses.

“How the hell did you manage to get Scotty in on this for  _ Spock _ , of all people?” Sulu asks as they run.

They stop in the lift.  Uhura raises her own eyebrow.  “Please.  You think it takes much to convince Monty to wear his kilt traditionally?”  

Chekov goes slightly red.  “Not around the kid,” Sulu admonishes her.  Then he contemplates the full horror of her comment.  “Wait.  No way.  Did you…”

Uhura gives them a very nasty smile.  “A lady never kisses and tells.”

Sulu blanches.  “I don’t want to know.”

The lift reaches the bridge, and the three of them reenter the bridge, arraying themselves at their positions.  

“Well?” someone asks from the other side of the  bridge.  

Chekov grins.  “It was amazing!”

Uhura eyes the lift.  “Stow it.  I’d bet that’s the Captain.”

The lift dings, and Kirk gets out, looking harried.  Every single bridge member is busy, hard at work as Kirk steps onto the bridge.  “Commander Spock.  May I have a private word with you in my ready room?” Kirk asks.

Spock glances over at Uhura.  She nods very faintly.  Spock raises a single eyebrow at her.  “OF course, Captain,” he says smoothly.

“Uhura, you’ve got the conn,” Kirk says, before vanishing with Spock.

Uhura sighs, and resigns herself to never finding out the contents of this particular conversation.

***

After shift, Spock stops Uhura with a single hand to her shoulder.  “Nyota.  Thank you,” Spock says.

Uhura smiles at him.  “You’re most welcome, Spock.  This is what friends are for, right?”

Spock’s lips curved ever so slightly upwards.  “Indeed.  Please also express my gratitude to Lieutenant Commander Scott.”

“Of course,” Uhura says.  And with that, Spock is gone.

Uhura guesses whatever that conversation was, the outcome could only be good.

***


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memorial and a Surprise!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *edited for continuity - sorry y'all*

_[7 DAYS LATER - ONE DAY AFTER ARRIVAL TO FEDERATION SPACEDOCK]_

Admiral Barnett double-taps the bell sitting on the admirals’ bench three times. “This meeting will now come to order. Admiral Pike, please present your mission report.”

“Success,” Pike responds. “Survivors of the attack were all rescued, but there were a number of fatalities. Some due to injuries sustained in Nero’s attack on the Farragut, others due to run-ins with the native people of Gamma Vega.”

“We will need a full list of deaths, complete with their causes, for our records,” Admiral Komack says.

“Yes, sir,” Pike answers. “For that, I refer you to Captain James Kirk and his crew. I was merely their handler for this mission - they have all the relevant information for you.” He pulls back from the podium and rolls over to join the rest of the crew at the side of the room.

Admiral Komack gestures to Kirk, who stands up and makes his way to the center of the room.

“Admirals,” Kirk begins, nodding to the officers before him. “Lieutenant Uhura has composed a list of casualties, which I have saved on this PADD.” He walks to the Admirals’ bench and hands Admiral Barnett the device. The man takes a moment to read through the list, then looks back up at Kirk. “Please explain the death of Gaila Vro. This crewmember’s death appears to be the only one completely attributable to the native people of Gamma Vega.”

Kirk glances over at his bridge crew. Uhura nods at him to talk, silently communicating her desire for the captain to stay calm, despite her own heart pounding harder than ever.

“Ensign Vro’s death was a tragic miscommunication between Starfleet personnel and the inhabitants of Gamma Vega,” Kirk says. “The locals have a legend of a fertility goddess who looks strikingly similar to Ensign Vro. They believed they had to sacrifice her to, quote, ‘return her to her celestial state’. By the time we reached the planet, she was already gone.” Kirk finishes his statement and stares at the admirals in front of him, as if daring them to prove him wrong. But Barnett nods, satisfied with the captain’s answer.

Barnett confers with the other admirals in a whisper. “We will arrange a memorial service for these officers three days from today, at 0900. In the meantime, Starfleet medical will take over care of wounded officers.”

“Thank you, admirals,” Kirk says, stepping away from the podium and joining his crew. The group lets out a collective breath of relief on leaving the courtroom.

Uhura shakes her head in disbelief. “Wow. They bought it.”

***

Uhura joins the rest of the crew at the memorial with Scotty in tow. Both are wearing dress blacks and solemn expressions.

“Hi,” she nods to the group. Kirk walks over and takes her hand in sympathy.

“You have your statement prepared?”

“Yes, Captain,” Uhura says, pulling a PADD out of the bag strung over her shoulder. “If only Gaila could be here to hear them. I talk her up possibly a bit too much.”

Kirk raises his eyebrows. “I saw your goodbyes on the planet - do you need me to be your backup if you… have trouble?”

Uhura thinks for a moment, then nods. “I might need that.” She wipes at her eyes and Scotty pulls her into a side-hug.

“You’ll do fine, lassie,” he says, “I’m here for you.”

Uhura smiles at him. “Thanks, Monty.” The group falls silent until the loudspeaker crackles, making them all jump.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and others, if you would please take your seats, the service will begin momentarily.” Admiral Pike’s voice cuts through the heaviness in the air, and the crew quietly finds their seats at the front of the auditorium. Once everyone is seated, Pike speaks.

“We are here today to celebrate and honor the lives of those we lost on the USS Farragut. Their time with Starfleet was cut unfortunately short, but each and every officer meant so much to so many of us - students and teachers alike. We must remember these officers the way they were, not the way in which they died. These brave officers died not in vain, but to protect the lives of of their fellow man. We can not let tragedies like this destroy that which we hold dear.

“We will start with Ensign Gaila Vro. Here now to say a few words is Ensign Vro’s roommate and friend, Lieutenant Nyota Uhura.” Muted applause echo around the room as Uhura makes her way to the podium. She takes a deep breath and begins her eulogy.

“Who was Gaila Vro? A roommate. A friend. A lover. Someone everyone trusted to do right by them. I’ll miss her laugh. I’ll miss her smile. I’ll miss her bringing people back to my room every other night.” Uhura pauses for the knowing laughter to die down. She glances over at Kirk and gets a thumbs up. She takes another breath and continues.

“Most of all I’ll miss her friendship. Being able to come home to her every night and tell her about my successes… and failures… was always the best part of my day. I can only wonder if someday I’ll see her again.” Uhura glances at her crewmates. Even Spock is frowning at this line. She clears her throat and clarifies her statement. “On this plane or another, of course. As they say, one never knows what awaits you in space. Some days you’ll be given nothing but suffering, but on others you’ll get a miracle. These past few years I’ve been given nothing but miracles in the form of Gaila Vro. I can only hope these days of sadness will not last long. She wouldn’t want it any other way.” Uhura sniffs, wipes away a few tears, and heads back to her seat.

Scotty laces his fingers with Uhura’s as she sits down. “You did well, Nyota,” he says, stroking her hand with his thumb. “I know how much she meant to you. I’ll miss her too.” Nyota remains silent and rests her head on Scotty’s shoulder, finally letting the tears fall.

***

Later that night, Uhura and Scotty are sitting together in her room on her bed, staring at the empty bed on the other side of the room.

“...I need to find a new roommate, don’t I?” Uhura finally says. “Staring at Gaila’s empty bed every night is getting to be a bit too much for me.”

Scotty nods. “You could put out some feelers, at least. Or if no one wants to take over the job as Queen Uhura’s number two, I’d gladly take the job.” He pauses. “If you’ll have me…”

Uhura grins. “Really?”

“Provided Keenser will let me, of course,” Scotty sighs. “He’s particular about who he rooms with.”

“Kiaohgsdifu practically already lives with him. Xe’s never here anymore as it is,” Uhura says.

Scotty chuckles. “Of course. I’ll bring up a more permanent living arrangement with him tomorrow - I don’t imagine I’ll be getting home any time tonight.” He pauses for a moment then leans in to capture Uhura’s lips with his for a few seconds. “You know how much I love you, right?”

“I do,” Uhura replies, pulling away, “I love you too, Monty. So much.” She leans back in and deepens the kiss.

After a moment, Scotty pulls back. “I have a surprise for you!”

Uhura raises her eyebrows. “Oh, do you?”

“No no, not that,” Scotty cuts her off. “Wait right here - I’ll be right back.” He jumps up and runs out the door. Uhura rolls her eyes, but does as he asks. He reappears a minute later, carrying a small device - around the same size as a tricorder. He thrusts the device into Uhura’s hands.

“Here!” He exclaims. “Kvabsmfdb and I made this for you! We were talking while you were sulking in your room after leaving Gamma Vega and discovered a rather simple way of helping you through this. Xe is an incredibly resourceful engineer. I hope to bring Wkndkfssdf onto the Enterprise engineering staff with a higher rank, if the captain will allow it.”

“I’m sure Yasdfsafd would love you for that,” Uhura chuckles, gently plucking the device from the engineer’s outstretched hands. “So what is this, exactly?”

Scotty grins. “This, lassie, is an intergalactic transmitter, capable of bypassing even Starfleet’s data sensors.”

“An… intergalactic… transmitter,” Uhura says slowly. “Is this for what I think it is?”

Scotty nods. “Aye. Now can I teach you to use it?”

“Yes, please,” Uhura says, tilting the screen towards Scotty so he can show her how to use his invention.

When Scotty finishes the basic tutorial, Uhura composes a short message.

> _Gaila - Scotty made me a special transmitter. I can send instructions to build your own, once I figure out how this thing works. Your secret is safe with me. Love always. - N.U._

Uhura finishes writing and stares at the device in her hands. “You’re sure this will evade Starfleet’s sensors?”

“Absolutely,” Scotty says, “I programmed the Fleet sensors myself and I _may_ have left one unused frequency open. Just know each message will take approximately a week to reach its destination. And the first response could take dramatically longer.” He takes the transmitter from Uhura’s hands to add one more line to her message.

> _Scotty says you can use subspace frequency 1701 to transmit_

He hands the transmitter back to Uhura who immediately presses the Send button. She grins at the engineer. “I love you so much. Thank you.” She pulls him into one more kiss. “I’ll never take this transmitter out of this room. I promise.”

Scotty returns the grin. “I know. I trust you.” He lifts Uhura up to straddle his legs. “Now here’s another surprise.” Uhura giggles and leans down to kiss him once more.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all, folks!
> 
> To all those who have been keeping up with this the whole time: we love all of y'all so much :)
> 
> To those who are just reading this now: We hope you all enjoyed this nonsense!


End file.
